For Love of You
by vintagelover12
Summary: When the one thing Tony Stark cares about is taken away from him, he will stop at nothing to get her back. This is a post-Avengers, Iron Man story.
1. Chapter 1

_So this is a story that I really wanted to write. I seem to write better fan fiction then my own material. So here is my first Avengers Tony/Pepper "Pepperony" love story. It's full of sweet moments and suspense. So here you go... _

_**For Love of You **_

_**"In everything I do, it's all for love of you," - Audrey Assad**_

**Chapter One**

_Pepper Potts couldn't believe what she had heard Tony say over the phone._

_"What do you mean you're dying? Did you just say you're dying?" Pepper stood by some of the body guards back at the Stark Expo, while Natalie had randomly disappeared and was talking with Tony on the other line._

_"Pepper, is that you? No, I'm not. Not anymore." Tony said as he flew back to the Stark Expo with his new arc reactor that in fact, was not killing him anymore. Tony could just hear the fear and anger in Pepper's voice when she spoke. "I was trying to tell you. I didn't want to alarm y-"_

_"You were going to tell me? You were really dying?" Pepper yelled into the phone. She couldn't believe what Tony was telling her, she just couldn't take the stress anymore. "Why didn't you tell me that?" She asked. _

_However, Tony never answered._

Pepper awoke in a cold sweat. Her eyes wandered around the room to see what was going on. The room was still dark, even silent. She turned her body to see it was only two in the morning. _'Damn Pepper, these nightmares need to stop,' _she thought to herself as she closed her eyes to try and fall back asleep.

Ever since Tony had told her that he had been dying, she had been scared. Even though he reassured her that night by giving her that amazing kiss after he saved her, that he was alive and well, she couldn't help but think the smallest of things could hurt him.

Especially after New York.

Things were definitely different after New York.

Nothing was the same. At least, not in her eyes they weren't. No matter how hard she tried, Pepper knew she wasn't going to fall back asleep.

Getting out of bed, Pepper went into the bathroom. She turned on the light and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. _'These sleepless nights are taking their toll on you Potts,'_ she said to herself when she saw the dark bags under her eyes. She rinsed some warm water onto her face in hopes it would relax her some. She then walked out of her room and into the kitchen, where she made herself some chamomile tea.

Pepper wrapped herself inside a blanket and made herself comfortable on the couch. Sitting in the dark, sipping her tea, she thought about what was going to happen now. Tony was always working. And when he wasn't working, he was always in the lab building something. He never gave himself a break.

Thinking about it however, Pepper never gave herself enough of a break either. She was constantly watching and stressing over Tony and the industry, she never took time out for herself. And now she could tell her body couldn't handle it anymore.

There was a noise coming from outside. Pepper contemplated going to hide in her room, but she wasn't that paranoid. But the noise was getting louder and she got scared. Pepper concealed herself in the blanket, leaving only a little room to see what was happening.

Pepper heard the door open and saw someone walk in.

"Tony?" She called out to the shadowy figure.

A small scream came from the figure and the lights came on.

Once their eyes adjusted to the light, Pepper saw Tony, who looked as white as a ghost.

"Jesus Pepper, what the hell?" He exclaimed. Pepper didn't mean to startle him, but she couldn't help but chuckle. "What are you up for?" He asked, then thought for a second. "You didn't wait up for me did you?" Tony felt bad.

"No, no I didn't." Pepper said. "I couldn't sleep." She told him.

Tony came over and sat down next to her. "Was it the nightmare again?" He asked as he pulled her closer to him. Pepper leaned into his chest and smelled his shirt. She appreciated his scent.

"Yeah, I don't know why they're so bad lately. Ever since we came back here after New York, my mind has been running on a tangent." She said and looked up at him. Pepper snuggled herself deeper into Tony's side.

"I'm so sorry that I put you through all of this Pepper, I really am." Tony told her. It was true. It was generally upset for putting the woman he loved in this much stress. He knew that she didn't deserve it. Tony noticed that Pepper didn't reply. He looked down at her and noticed she had fallen asleep against him. Tony kissed the top of her head and tried his hardest to not to wake her as he carried her back into the bed.

He carefully tucked her in and lay down next to her in the bed. He turned his head to take one last look at the woman he loved, right before he fell asleep. Tony really didn't mean to hurt Pepper in this way, he could never hurt her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Pepper awoke to sunlight shining in her eyes. Sitting up, she noticed that she had ended up back in the bed. Looking around, she noticed the outfit Tony had worn the other day, crumpled up on the floor, but Tony was nowhere in sight. She turned her head to see the clock, where it read twelve in the afternoon.

Getting out of bed, Pepper threw on a pair of yoga pants and walked out of the room. Thinking Tony might be in the kitchen, Pepper headed in that general direction. It wasn't until she passed the staircase when she heard the sound of faint music coming from Tony's lab, when she decided to head down there.

Tony was working on the newest Mark model, he could remember what version however, he lost count after the eighth one. He was so into his work, he didn't even hear Pepper come downstairs.

"What are you doing, Tony?" Pepper's soft voice barely cut through the sound of his music.

Tony turned his head and saw an almost sick looking Pepper. He noticed her skin was pale and not as rosy as it normally was. He could even see the dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.

"Pepper, you're up." Tony put down his tools and looked at her. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Pepper looked at him. She was trying to avoid having to have a conversation that she didn't want to have with Tony.

"You were up again last night," He said and didn't take his gaze off of her. "You told me about the nightmare, again. Remember?"

Pepper looked down at the ground, of course she remembered.

Tony walked over so he was face to face with her. Placing his hand under her chin, he slowly lifted it until he could see her eyes. Tony always loved Pepper's light blue eyes.

"What aren't you telling me? I want to help you, but I can't if you don't let me." Tony practically begged. Her lower lip quivered and tears started to form in Pepper's eyes, turning them a darker shade of blue.

"I'm sorry, you don't need to hear this. It's nothing. I'm just going to go make something to eat," her voice was low and she tried to break from Tony's gaze.

"No, I want to hear this. Pepper, why won't you talk to me?" Tony pulled her back. A few tears started to roll down Pepper's cheek. Pepper shook her head and stared at the ground. Tony had never seen Pepper like this, ever. Normally she was the one who was so headstrong, she would be telling him what to do.

Realizing that perhaps his lab wasn't the greatest place to talk, Tony walked with Pepper back up the stairs and into the kitchen, where he started brewing some fresh coffee.

"Pepper, will you please talk to me now?" Tony asked as he placed a fresh cup of coffee in front of her.

"I don't know how much longer I can deal with this," She finally spoke. Tony was relieved when she finally told him, but was saddened by what she said. Tony stayed silent while she spoke some more. "I can't handle all this stress with you almost dying every time you go to battle. First Obadiah, then the palladium and Vanko and Hammer, and now New York. It's physically messing with me and I can't do this anymore." She cried.

Tony knew she was right. It wasn't at all fair to her.

"Pepper," He went to stroke her hair, but she pulled away. "Pepper, what do you want me to do? I can't stop what I'm doing. People depend on me to help. This is my job, this is what I was meant to do." He said. She looked at him, her eyes disgusted.

"Have you ever stopped to think what the people who care about you really think? What I really think?" Pepper's voice raised, she was angry. "I can't watch you go off to battle and believe that everything will be okay, Tony. You've almost died each time you've gone to fight and it kills me even more to see the man I love risk his damn life just to save the world." Pepper looked at him. She could feel the start of a migraine.

"Pepper," Tony looked at her. "I'm so sorry. I-"

"I need to leave for a while." She bluntly interrupted him. Tony stared at her, speechless. "I'm going to pack up and get out of here." Pepper nodded as if she was just understanding the plans she was just making.

"Please reconsider your decision, Pepper. I can take a break from this, for you." Tony said and grabbed her hand as she turned away. "Pepper, please. I-"

_Sir, an agent from SHEILD is on the line. _JARVIS came on.

Pepper rolled her eyes, this was typical. She wondered if Tony sometimes planned this stuff.

"Tell them I'm not available. I'm busy right now." Tony spoke to the invisible butler.

_He says it is urgent and will not leave until he speaks with you._

Tony followed Pepper into the bedroom where she slammed the door, locking Tony out.

"Pepper, please let me in so I can talk with you," she heard Tony beg as she began packing a few bags.

_Sir, my system is being overridden-_

"Mr. Stark," Tony could hear his name being called from the living room.

"Pepper, please don't leave yet. I still want to talk." Tony yelled through the door before going into the living room.

Walking into the room, SHIELD Agent Sitwell stood. He was holding a manila file folder.

"Agent Sitwell, as _wonderful_ as it is to see you, this is not a great time at all." Tony told him. "Do you think there's a way you could just come back at a better time?" He hoped it would be alright.

"Sorry Stark, Fury says this can't wait." Sitwell said as he handed Tony the folder.

Tony hesitated, he hated being handed things. '_Why isn't Pepper here when I need her?'_

Tony thought to himself. He finally just took the folder and shooed Sitwell out of his house.

"Tell Fury I'll call later," Tony yelled as he slammed the door shut. He went back to the bedroom, where the door was cracked open.

Tony, carefully walked in. He could never be too sure what this situation would bring him.

Pepper stood on the opposite side of the bed, where two bags sat on top.

"Pepper, please," Tony stood opposite of her.

"I can't," She said and grabbed the bags. "Tony, I'm sorry."

Tony watched Pepper walk out of the bedroom. As much as he wanted to stop her, he didn't. He heard a door slam shut and walked out to the kitchen. He got out just in time to see Pepper's car leaving the driveway.

"I'm sorry," He said before going back down to his lab. He was going to take his time to work away the sorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: Thank you all so much for the great reviews, it really means a lot because in my head, I don't like sharing the things I write. But I really appreciate the support. Hope you all enjoy._

**Chapter Three**

Pepper could barely hold herself together as she drove. She had no idea where she even wanted to go. She just wanted out of California.

As Pepper drove down the California cliffside highway, she thought about whether or not she could ever go back. As much as she loved Tony, this was just as hard on her. Continuing her drive, Pepper was so focused in thought, she barely saw the blockade that was set up on the road. _'Perfect'_, she thought to herself.

She stopped the car and rolled down her window to talk with one of the men that was directing the way of the blockade. However, as the man got closer, Pepper realized this wasn't a normal blockade.

"Pepper Potts," the man said. Pepper sneered at his voice. "You're going to have to come with us."

"Who are you?" Pepper asked. She wasn't going to go with him. Pepper refused to leave.

The man laughed an evil laugh. Pepper heard the passenger door open. She didn't have time to react. She felt something pinch at her neck.

"What are you doing to me?" Pepper's words slurred before everything went black.

The man laughed again and carefully pulled an unconscious Pepper from the car.

"Sir, what do we do with the car?" Another man asked.

"Drop it," He said and disappeared with Pepper. The man took the cue and put the car in drive and threw it over the edge of the cliff. Looking over, he could see the car was completely destroyed. Nobody could survive that fall.

Pepper was tied up and thrown into the back of a van.

"Let's get Iron Man out of his cave, shall we?" The man and his henchmen laughed as they drove away from the scene.

Hours had passed and Tony hadn't left his lab. Pepper left and he had nothing else better to do. It wasn't until his cell phone went off that he even thought of doing something productive.

"Yeah, this is Stark." He answered.

"Stark, you haven't read the packet yet have you?" It was Natasha's voice on the other line.

"No, I haven't gotten to it yet. Is there anything important you want to talk about Romanoff?" Tony snapped back.

"Wow, Stark. Sorry, take a chill pill - or something." She said back. "What's wrong with you?"

"It's been a bad morning." He said back. "So what's up?" He said just a bit too sarcastically.

"Have you even looked at packet Sitwell gave you earlier? There's something you should know." Natasha told him. Tony finally gave up and grabbed the SHIELD folder. He was utterly flabbergasted when he saw what it was about.

"Justin Hammer escaped from prison? What the hell?"

"Yeah and Fury seems to think that Pepper may be his target." She said to him. "Clint, Steve and I are on our way to you now."

Tony couldn't believe that Hammer had somehow made his way out of a SHIELD secure prison facility. The place was sure to be secure. _'Someone on the inside must have let him out', _Tony thought to himself.

"Stark, you still there?" Natasha asked.

Before Stark could answer, JARVIS spoke first.

_Sir, there's a Los Angeles police officer on the line for you._

"I'm busy Jarvis, can I call back later?" Tony told the system.

_He says it is an urgent matter. Something about a car registered to you was found at the bottom of a cliff on the southern highway._

Tony thought about it for a second. He hadn't left his house all day and he definitely made it home the night before. Then it struck him. _'Pepper',_

"Natasha, I have to go for a few. Let me know when you're here." He said and hung up, giving her no further explanation.

"Jarvis, I'll take the line now." Tony said and picked up the barely used land receiver. "This is Stark," He said, his voice quivering with fear.

"Mr. Stark, my name is Jacob Sanders. I'm a lieutenant with LAPD. We were wondering if you are aware of one of your cars is off your property?" The lieutenant asked him.

"Yes, I can explain more if I come to the scene. Where was the accident exactly?" Tony asked. He jotted down the area the police were and headed out of the house.

Tony drove in silence the whole way down the cliffside. He knew he had made it to the scene when he saw all the police cars blocking the way and turning drivers around. Tony parked his car on the side of road. When he walked up to the scene, he didn't even need ID to get him through.

"Mr. Stark, I'm Lieutenant Sanders, we spoke on the phone earlier." The man came over and shook Tony's hand. "I'll let you see where the car is before we bring it back up."

The lieutenant walked Tony over to the edge of the guardrail that looked over the edge of cliff.

Tony looked down to see the damage. His once silver car had been burnt to a crisp.

"We don't know whether or not there's anyone inside until we bring it up." Sanders told Tony. He them prompted a tow truck to start the lifting process.

Tony held back tears as he saw the car make its way back up the cliff. Once the crews got it back up the guard rail, some of the crime technicians started making its way through starting tests.

"Hey Lieu, can you come here for a sec?" One of the technicians called him over.

Tony was left standing alone for a few minutes. His cell phone rang. Looking at the screen it was Natasha.

"Romanoff, are you here?" Tony didn't even say hello.

"Yeah Stark, where are you?" Natasha asked over the phone. She and the others were already at Stark's Malibu home.

"I'll send you the coordinates. Just tread lightly and call Fury. I fill in the details later." Tony said and hung up. He quickly sent the coordinates to her and waited for any word on the car.

Tony felt like it was taking forever just to figure somethings out that he could have done faster with his technology. He almost fazed out when he heard a familiar voice call out his name.

"Stark, what the hell is going on?" Steve asked as he, Clint and Natasha made their way closer to the scene.

Tony was about to answer when the lieutenant called him again.

"Mr. Stark, you're going to want to see this." Sanders called out.

Tony walked back over to the car. Sanders was looking inside the trunk of the car, which was not damaged from the fire that ravaged the rest of the car. Tony smiled remembering that he had put in fire proof trunks in most of his cars to protect valuable items.

"Are any of these familiar to you?" Sanders asked. He was holding Pepper's travel bags. Tony remembered when he bought the Louis Vuitton bags for her.

_"No, I won't take that from you," Pepper told him. Tony laughed._

_ "Pep, It's a gift from me. Take them." He told her._

_ Pepper shook her head. "They are too expensive, I'm not worth it."_

_ Tony couldn't believe she had said that. "You are to worth it. I love you and want you to take the bags, so please take them." He offered her the box again._

_ "Thank you," Pepper whispered as she took the box from him._

_ "Don't mention it. Now can you drop off my dry cleaning for me?" Tony jokingly said. Pepper laughed and rolled her eyes._

"Mr. Stark? You alright?" Sanders asked him. Tony brought himself out of his daydream and nodded.

"Yeah, those are my girlfriend's bags. She was going to visit a friend for a few days." Tony made up an excuse. "Is there a chance I can get those back? I gave those to her as a gift." He asked.

"Once they're not evidence in this investigation, we can give those back to you." Sanders told him. Tony was about to walk away over to the others, who were waiting by his car, when Sanders called him back over. "Mr. Stark, there's one more thing I have to ask you."

Tony motioned for the others to come over as he walked back over to Lieutenant Sanders.

"What is her name?" He asked.

"Virginia Potts, her nickname is Pepper." Tony said. He had already feared the worst.

"Put a BP out on Virginia Potts. She's a missing person as of right now." Sanders told one of his officers.

Tony couldn't believe what he had heard. _Missing person? Pepper's still alive? _

"Stark, what's going on?" Steve asked when he and the others finally reached Tony.

"Pepper's missing," Tony said. His voice was rough.

"She's missing?" Steve repeated with question.

"You think Hammer has something to do with this?" Natasha asked Tony.

Before he could answer, a familiar man walked over to him.

"And that's exactly why we're taking over this case," SHIELD Agent Phil Coulson appeared on the scene.

"And who might you be?" Sanders asked the agent. Coulson, dressed in his black suit, walked up to the man and handed him his card.

"Let's just say, I'm a friend." He said back. Several SHIELD agents took over the scene and started taking the tests and evidence the other officers had already done.

Sanders walked away from the scene in a huff.

Tony looked at the agent, "Phil, it's good to see you? How have you been?"

"Well, I feel that I'm doing better than you at the moment. How're you holding up?" Coulson asked him. He noticed Tony looked like he had been through the wringer.

"I don't care about me right now, I have to find Pepper." He said and turned to the others, who were still waiting to be filled in on what was going on.

"Well, I have the car. Why don't we get everyone caught up," Coulson said and the rest of them followed him to a SHEILD van.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Tony sat inside the SHIELD Headquarters not far from his Malibu home. He sat in a conference room with Steve, Natasha and Clint. Phil and Director Fury hadn't entered the room yet.

Tony was in a daze. Pepper was missing and Justin Hammer broke out of a SHIELD secured prison. This was no coincidence to him. After Hammer had been arrested a few years ago after the Stark Expo extravagant disaster, he had sworn something bad would happen to Pepper.

"Stark, what are you thinking of right now? You're like, out of it?" Clint threw a look over at Tony, who's gaze finally broke.

"Just thinking about how the hell Hammer broke out of a secure prison?" Tony snapped back.

"I was just about to tell you how that happened," Director Fury's voice echoed into the room. The four turned to see Fury, Coulson, and Sitwell walk into the room. The four turned to look at Fury. "Justin Hammer escaped at seventeen-hundred hours the other morning after an inside source helped out. We have the man in solitary confinement back in New York."

"But why the hell did he go after Pepper?" Tony asked.

"Agent Romanoff, you were working under cover back at the Stark Expo disaster. What was Hammer yelling when we were in the process of arresting him?" Sitwell spoke.

"He said that it was in Ms. Pott's best interest that she watched her back," Natasha told them. It was true. When she was undercover as Natalie Rushman, she had heard Hammer yell that to the entire area as he was being taken away.

"What I think the real question is what is Hammer's motive for taking Ms. Potts?" Coulson said. He was just as upset that Pepper had been taken. She was his friend too.

"He wants to get back at me," Tony spoke up. "He has had a grudge against me ever since the expo incident. Now his plan for revenge is taking Pepper and using it against me."

"Stark might have a point," Natasha said. The others agreed. Steve and Clint had read the file and knew the threat that Hammer had brought to the table.

"Hammer said that he would see Pepper again and bring trouble. He directly threatened her." Natasha said.

"What we need to focus on is the real threat that Hammer has against Stark, or anyone of that matter," Director Fury spoke among them. "That's why I have you all here. I'm setting up a task force to locate where Hammer may possibly be located. Stark, are you up for a little challenge?"

Tony looked right at Director Fury. He wasn't one for games, but he really wanted to find Pepper.

"Why the hell not?" He said, got up from his chair and paced around the room. _'It's about time someone finally took charge of this,' _Tony thought to himself. It was time to find Pepper, fast.

Pepper woke up in a dark room. The only light in the room was being provided by a single lightbulb. Looking around, Pepper realized she was tied up against a chair. Then a small red light caught her eye. Trying to focus on the small light, she realized it was security camera, she was being watched. Pepper then tried to see if she could loosen the rope around her wrists.

"Don't think you can get out of this one Miss Potts," A voice came into the room. She recognized the voice. It was someone who should be in prison.

"Hammer, what the hell?" Pepper said. "What do you want from me?" She asked, trying to stand her ground.

Justin Hammer made his way into the light. His complexion was pale and scarier since the last time Pepper had seen him.

"Virginia Potts, its been a while since I've seen you last. How have you been?" His sarcasm made Pepper want to spit at him.

"I was fine until I ended up here, Hammer," she looked at him. "What the hell do you want with me?" She pleaded.

"You are so desperate," He laughed his sardonic laugh. "Let's just show someone how desperate you really are."

Hammer laughed as he left the room. Pepper yelled at him as he left. She didn't want to cry, but she could feel her eyes sting with tears.

The team had been crowded around the several computer screens. A few were dedicated solely on where Pepper could have been spotted, another was taking the anonymous caller tips where some had seen the van take her away, and some were scanning activity of the HAMMER Corporation. Tony was getting bored of staring at computer screens, he wanted to be searching for Pepper himself. In fact, he felt obligated to.

"Hey Stark," Steve had walked over and sat next to him. "How're you holding up?" He asked, although it was a stupid question.

"I've had better days Rogers, is there something you want?" Tony asked his friend.

"You know, I had always wondered how you and Miss Potts ever met. How the hell did she fall for a man like you?" Steve asked. He was trying to be funny with the joke.

"I ask myself the same question sometimes," Tony looked at Steve. It was a good question too. Tony always wondered how his life would be different without Pepper in his life.

_"Mr. Stark?" Tony looked up from his desk. It was the one time he was actually at the office. Standing in front of him was a woman, her pale complexion made her strawberry-blonde hair stand out and freckles stand out. Tony noticed that she wasn't like most of the women he met._

_ "And who might you be?" Tony asked, straightening things out on his desk._

_ "A secretary from down in accounting. She refuses to go back to her office," One of his security guards came through the door and went to grab the woman's arm._

_ "Mr. Stark, there's an issue here with the paperwork. You calculated something wrong." Tony listened to the woman explain to him, however his security guard got in the way._

_ "I'm sorry she disturbed you, sir." He said to Tony. However, what the woman did next surprised him the most._

_ The woman pulled something from her pocket, a miniature pepper spray keychain._

_ "I'm not leaving until Mr. Stark hears me out," She said. Tony had his guard step back and put his full attention back on her._

_ "You calculated something wrong right here," she went on to explain. Tony looked at the problem and realized she was right. _

_ "Who might you be again?" Tony looked at her, she had some spunk in her and he liked it._

_ "Virginia Potts," She stuck her hand out for a formal introduction, but Tony didn't catch on._

_ "Pepper," Tony said. She looked at him, confused._

_ "Excuse me?" _

_ "Yeah, Pepper, it suits you much better than Virginia." Tony nodded in contentment. She looked at him and knew he was right. 'Pepper' was a much better nickname then her childhood one, 'Ginny'. "You can put that pepper-spray away now and grab your things from your desk."_

_ 'Pepper' looked at him in disbelief. "You're firing me?"_

_ Tony looked at her and laughed. _

_ "Oh no, I'm promoting you Pepper Potts. How would you like to be my new PA?" Tony asked her._

_ Pepper didn't know what to say, only about a year working at Stark Industries and she was now becoming the Tony Stark's personal assistant. She looked at Tony and nodded._

_ "Alright, think you can go on a coffee run for me?" He asked her and turned around in his chair._

_ "Will that be all Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked the back of his head._

_ "That will be all Miss Potts." Tony said. Once he heard her walking out of the room, he turned around and watched her walk away. He knew she was different, this was the start of a wonderful friendship._

A beep from the computer broke his train of thought.

"Sir, there's an incoming message from an encrypted source." One of the agents looked at Director Fury. Before he could reply, a video screen popped up. Their attention was brought to the shadowed figure in the middle of the screen.

"Try tracing it now," Fury told the agent. He started typing profusely on the keyboard. A sudden raise in the video's volume made everyone watch in silence.

"I know you're trying to trace where this video is right now," A familiar voice spoke. "You can try all you want, but you won't find us." Justin Hammer appeared in the frame, but the figure in the background was still shadowed.

Hammer walked back and forth in the frame. "Listen closely," He spoke directly to the camera. "I want Stark to hand over all his technology. Then I want you to hand me all your technology. Then you could possibly have her back," Hammer hit a light switch, the silhouette in the background came to light. Pepper, still tied up in a chair, looked up unaware of what was happening.

Tony stood from the chair he had been sitting in and walked up closer to the screen.

"The longer it takes for you to give me these requests, Stark this might be important for you, the more I'll hurt her." Hammer laughed. The camera panned in closer on Pepper. "Tell him what I told you, go ahead, tell him honey."

Tony cringed when he called Pepper honey, he watched the screen.

"Tony," Pepper started. Tony could tell she sounded tired. "Don't give him what he wants, I'll be fine on my own." She yelled out. Hammer slapped her hard against the face and screamed as if it was a reflex.

"That's not what I said. But now I'm inclined to kill you. I warned you Potts about what trouble I'd bring you." Hammer yelled. He then turned to face the camera. "You have forty-two hours to give me what I want or she's dead."

"Tony, Tony," Pepper yelled before the screen went black. Tony was petrified. He could see the tears in her eyes after Hammer hit her, he could hear the fear in her voice. It scared him.

"We need to get to Pepper, he will kill her." Tony said, his eyes still peeled on the screen. "I need to find her, fast."


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: Thank you for all the nice reviews. Sorry this chapter is kinda short. I hope you enjoy still._

**Chapter Five**

_"Tony's gone missing," Colonel James Rhodes said over the phone. He was supposed be escorting Tony in Afghanistan while he was giving a weapons demonstration to prospective buyers._

_ "Colonel, what happened?" Obadiah spoke first, Pepper was too stunned to speak, let alone think. Tony Stark was missing-in-action._

_ "It was a roadside attack. There were several casualties, but Tony was nowhere to seen when we searched the scene after the fact. It was bad Mr. Stane. We are searching all over for him now. Trust me, this twenty-four seven operation." Rhodes told them._

_ "Alright, keep us posted Rhodes," Obadiah hung up. He looked at Pepper. "This is not good Miss Potts."_

_ She still couldn't think. Tony was missing and possibly hurt in a country that they were at war with. "What are we supposed to tell the press?" She finally managed to get words out._

_ "I haven't slightest idea Miss Potts," Obadiah looked down at some papers and quickly pushed them aside and stood up. "I suppose we have to say something before someone else gets to it. Let's call some people, shall we?"_

_ The two called every local and national news source they could and put on a press conference. Throughout the entire conference, Pepper's mind was clouded with thoughts of her boss being dead. She cared deeply for Tony and didn't want to see him hurt._

_ Once the news conference was over, Pepper went back to her apartment. As if she was moving on autopilot, Pepper went directly to her room. For once in her life, she was lost. She sobbed. This wasn't something she would normally do, but the time seemed right. 'If only Tony could see me now,' Pepper thought to herself. She knew Tony would make a quip about her red eyes._

_ Three months. Tony had been gone three months. Pepper was there when he got off the plane and she couldn't help but shed a few tears._

_ "Hmm, your eyes are red. Tears for your long lost boss?" Were his first words to her. Pepper looked down and smiled. She was happy to hear his voice._

_ "Tears of joy. I hate job hunting." She told him._

_"Well, vacation's over."_

Everyone was still staring up at the projection screen long after the picture had gone black. Hammer threatened to kill Pepper if he didn't get what he wanted. Tony knew exactly why he wanted all of his technology. His failed attempt in the weapons industry made people laugh, and Hammer had hated it. But he was now taking it too far.

"Sir, we couldn't get a trace on the video," the agent told Fury.

"What do we do now?" Sitwell asked. Everyone looked at Fury for his plan of action.

Fury was silent at first. He wasn't exactly sure how to deal with the situation. He then saw Tony, who looked like a piece of his heart was missing, even if it was made of metal in someways.

"Agent Coulson, why don't you get Agent Hill on the phone. We have a prisoner we need to talk to." He said. Coulson did what he was told. He phoned Agent Hill, who was back in New York with the now former agent.

"This is Hill," She answered the phone.

"Hill, this is Coulson out in Malibu. We need a favor." He said into the phone. He listened to Hill over the other line for a minute before he spoke. "We need to speak with the agent who helped Hammer break out."

"Coulson, he is in solitary confinement right now. Do you know how difficult it is to get him to talk now?" She asked from the other line.

"I can get him to talk, trust me." Coulson told her over the phone. He listened over the phone for another minute before hanging up. He looked at the others. "She can get him on a video conference call in an hour."

Everyone looked at Tony, who was silent. He looked back, but then left the room. The pressure of the situation was stressing him out. Without stopping, he walked down the hall. It wasn't until he heard someone calling him, that he even considered turning around.

"Hey Stark, wait up!" It was Steve's voice. Tony turned around to see Steve running toward him. "I need to talk to you," Steve said.

"I'm not really in the mood for conversing right now," Tony snapped at him. It was true, he wasn't in the mood.

"I don't think that's an option." Steve said and looked at his friend.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Hammer?" Pepper practically spat out her words. One half of her face stung from when he slapped her.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with me Miss Potts, it's you that you should start caring about." Hammer told her. She saw the evil in his eyes.

"What are you going to do with Tony's stuff?" She asked, her voice was soft.

"I have big plans for his stuff. But I have to get it first," Hammer turned and looked directly at her. "You better hope your little 'boy-toy' comes soon, or you won't have much more to look forward too." He said and laughed maniacally as he left the room.

Pepper screamed as the door slammed shut. She was trapped in a room god-knows where and no one could find her. _'Please find me fast, Tony. I need you.' _Pepper thought to herself and started to cry.


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: Thank you so much for the nice reviews, I really, really appreciate it. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, I've been fixing it up like crazy. And it's much longer than the others. I should warn you now, this chapter is written how I think Pepper's past had been. It may not be right, but this is how I think some of her life went. Let's say it's a different interpretation. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Six**

"What do you want Steve?" Tony looked at him. He wasn't in the mood to talk with anyone. He just wanted to be alone.

"You need to talk about this, it's not helping your case by holding everything in." Steve tried to reason with his friend. "Come on Tony, tell me what's on your mind."

Tony looked at Steve. He felt bad that he was being such a jerk.

"Isn't it obvious Steve," Tony looked at him in all seriousness. "That my friend, was a stupid question."

"You know what, you're right. I'm sorry." Steve looked at him. "Can we please talk about this?" He looked directly at Tony.

"Fine, what do you want to talk about?" Tony asked, his sarcasm was starting to get on Steve's last nerve. "Oh wait, my girlfriend was abducted and was threatened to be killed if I don't give them what they want." He said bluntly. "Is that enough talk for you?"

The two were silent for a moment before they heard another voice calling from down the hall.

"Stark, Rogers, there's a lead. You should come look." Natasha had called to them. Both looked at each other and followed her back into the conference room.

"There's a possibility that Hammer could be by the Mexican Border, or may have even crossed the border." Agent Sitwell had pointed out to all of them. "Look, with the bit of the video transmission that we recorded, there's a symbol on the wall behind Miss Potts." He zoomed in on the computer screen.

Tony looked where Sitwell had mentioned. There was indeed a symbol on the wall.

"It looks like some type of gang symbol," Clint pointed out.

"You're right Agent Barton," Sitwell looked at him. "This specific symbol is common near and in Mexico. It has to do with what we believe is a resistance group near there."

Everyone was silent. They looked at the agent, who was printing a picture of the symbol to add to a file. It wasn't until Natasha spoke that everyone started putting their ideas in.

"I think it's a valid start. It could be anywhere, but it's very possible that's where Hammer brought her." Natasha looked at the group.

"Well, what is the resistance group you're thinking of have normally do?" Steve looked at them. But he never got an answer, the computer had an alert on the screen.

"Sir, I think this may be Hill with the prisoner." Coulson looked at Fury, who nodded in agreement. Coulson hit a button and Agent Hill popped up on the screen.

"Coulson, you have ten minutes with him. He hasn't talked for us, so I doubt he'll talk for you either." She told him. In the background, Tony rolled his eyes, he thought she was too uptight.

"Thank you Agent Hill," Coulson said and everyone waited as Hill and another agent transferred the prisoner in front of the computer screen. "Agent Levin, I had a feeling I'd be seeing you here." Coulson started.

The man on the other side of the screen was nothing like a normal prisoner. Tony noticed from first glance that he looked like a normal, clean-shaven guy. But it wasn't until he spoke that everyone realized why he was there in the first place.

"Agent Coulson, back from the dead, I see. You were never really good at keeping things a secret." Levin spoke. His voice sounded so evil and conceited, no one doubted for a second that he was the man that helped Hammer escape.

"Well, you were never a good agent anyway. Tell me Levin, why did you help Hammer out?" Coulson asked. He was very calm and collected with his question. No one had ever seen Coulson lose his cool.

"Hammer was a lost cause anyway. He wouldn't have made it in here much longer." Levin said, but avoiding the real answer.

"Come on, how much did he pay you?" Coulson said to the computer screen.

"Nothing, I'm like those lawyers, the ones who do pro bono work." Levin said. "Not to mention, Hammer has nothing to offer me. SHIELD already confiscated everything he owned."

The conversation wasn't going anywhere and everyone was getting impatient.

"If I was there right now, I would've punched him where it counts and watched him cry as he told me where Hammer went," Natasha whispered into Tony's ear. She was trying to get a smile out of him, but Tony stayed completely un-phased.

"Levin, why would you even consider infiltrating and betraying SHIELD like that?" Coulson asked the obvious question.

"Because I can," He snarked. That's when Tony had enough.

"Now you look at me, the man YOU helped escape is going to kill the woman he abducted today if you don't tell us where they went. Once Hammer gets what he wants, he's not going to get you out. He doesn't even care about you at the moment. That's how he is. Now tell us where they are," Tony yelled into the camera. He had had enough of Levin's mind games.

"Stark, stay out of this," Fury warned him, but that didn't stop him.

Levin stayed silent, which made Tony even more upset.

"You son of a bitch, tell me where Hammer took her and what he plans to do," Tony practically threatened him.

Levin laughed and made a move in his seat, agents had to restrain him.

"Get Stark out of here," Fury yelled. Steve and Clint grabbed Tony's shoulder, but he continued to yell.

"Director Fury, this interview is done," Agent Hill yelled from the other side.

"Tony Stark," Levin finally broke out of his laugh. Everyone in the room froze. "You'll never find them. Say goodbye now because you'll never see her again. That's a promise." Levin said before he was dragged out of the room.

Everyone in the room was silent. Steve and Clint let go of Tony. Fury looked at him.

"Go home Stark. Let us handle what needs to be done and someone will clue you in."

Tony remained silent and stared as everyone looked at him with pity written all across their faces.

"Come on Stark, I'll take you home." Natasha told him. However, Tony didn't look at her, he just left the room without saying anything to anyone. As Natasha followed him out, Steve and Clint were about to follow next until Fury told them to stay.

"Romanoff, I want you back here after he's home." Fury called out. "Keep him there and don't make me order him on house arrest, again."

Tony was already outside when Natasha finally made it out. Tony noticed that she had started growing her hair longer again since the attack on New York.

"You made quite an exit there Stark," Natasha told him as she unlocked the sedan door.

"Well, you know how overdramatic I can be," Tony said back, sarcastically.

"We're going to find her," She looked him the eye. Tony could see truth written in Natasha's eyes, but he still couldn't believe her.

"Yeah, well until she's physically within my reach, I won't believe you." He told her and turned his head. He watched the ocean passing by as Natasha drove down the California coast. They both knew this was going to be a long night.

When Tony finally walked through the front door of his Malibu home after Natasha dropped him off, he already took her warning to heart, '_Don't make Fury keep you on house arrest again, Stark. Get some rest'_. He was not going to let this ruin him, even though he already felt like a failure.

Tony could feel that the house wasn't the same without Pepper. Normally, if she wasn't stuck at the office all night, he would come home to find her cooking something in the kitchen while dancing around to the radio. It was something that he longed to see that very moment. It was refreshing to see Pepper out of her element.

Not stopping in the kitchen, Tony continued down the hall. As he walked towards his bedroom, Tony longed to hold Pepper. Seeing her tied to a chair in a location no one knew, it broke his heart that he couldn't comfort her and tell her that things would be okay.

In the bedroom, Tony went into the walk-in closet and stopped on Pepper's side. Hell, there were no sides anymore, she had basically taken it over. Looking through all of her clothes, he grabbed one of her scarves and inhaled her scent, he already missed it. _Chanel No. 5 _mixed with some vanilla, that was her scent. Tony chuckled when he thought about Pepper's reaction to the perfume when he first bought it for her.

_"There is no way I'm wearing that," She yelled at him. "It's so expensive, people will get suspicious."_

_ "Pepper, a lot of women wear this perfume. You'll be fine. Not to mention, it smells divine on you," Tony smiled with his puppy dog eyes that she couldn't resist._

_ "Fine, I'll even put some on now if you want," Pepper said and took the cap off. Tony smiled at her until he realized she had pointed the bottle right at him._

_ "Don't you dare even think about that Miss Potts," Tony said right as she sprayed him the perfume._

_ "Already did," she said and laughed. Tony couldn't believe she even considered that._

_ "You are so lucky I love you," He laughed and pulled her in closer. _

_ "Me too," She said back as she leaned in closer for a kiss._

Looking through the rest of Pepper's things, he noticed a fancy box hidden behind some of her shoes. Taking a closer look at the box, Tony realized he had never seen it before. He carried the box from the closet into the bedroom and sat on the floor. Wiping the layer of dust off the top, Tony looked at the label, 'College'.

Eager to see what Pepper had been hiding from him, Tony took the lid off the box and dumped the contents on the floor. Several newspapers came from the box first, followed by some pictures, and eventually small trinkets that had just been placed in there.

Looking through the trinkets, Tony picked up a small, gold pocket watch on a chain. Opening it up, he saw its beautiful ivory faceplate and the ornate black numbering. Flipping the watch around, he saw that it had been engraved, _'To my sweet, sweet Virginia. Happy eighteenth birthday. Love Dad.'_

Now that was news to Tony. Pepper never talked about her family, let alone even mentioned them to him. He sometimes just thought she never had a family. He felt as if he was missing out on a time in Pepper's life. He wanted to know why.

Continuing to look through more of her past, Tony stumbled upon an obituary from Pepper's hometown paper, _'Thomas William Potts, gifted man, husband and father. Potts passed away Sunday morning after complications after a heart attack. He is survived by his wife Sarah and their two daughters, Elizabeth and Virginia.'_

Tony didn't need to read through the rest of the article to figure out the rest. Pepper was only eighteen when her dad passed away. He had never known what relationship she had had with her family. Hell, Tony didn't even know she had a sister. Tony put the obituary down and continued to look through Pepper's past.

He picked up an envelope from the University of California, Berkeley. He knew that was her acceptance letter, but he didn't remember her telling him that was where she went to school originally. According to her resume, she graduated from New York University. Looking through some more, he noticed a script from a play. There had been handwritten notes in the margins on pages she had lines in. Looking through more different scripts he found, Tony realized Pepper had been a completely different person.

She had been in plays and musicals, she wrote poetry, and even wrote her own original play. As he continued to dig deeper into her past, he found a polaroid picture of a very young Pepper and a man who looked a bit older than her. The man had his arms wrapped around her waist and had pulled her in for an almost kiss.

_'Ginny and James, sweethearts.' _The picture had been labeled. Tony laughed at Pepper's nickname, it didn't suit her at all. Continuing through more polaroids, Tony found pictures of Pepper with various other friends, even one at Halloween where Pepper dressed up as Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp". These were all things that made Tony wonder, _"What made her change?" _He noticed she had seemed happy. Really, really happy.

It wasn't until he had found an old videotape that made him even more curious. Digging up an old VCR player, not even knowing he still had one, Tony was eager to see what was on the tape. Once he hit play, a screenshot of a college-age Pepper popped up. She was sitting behind a piano, ready to play.

_"For this next set, Virginia Potts will perform a classic Chaplin song," Someone introduced her from the side of the stage. People clapped as the lights dimmed and a spotlight appeared on Pepper._

_ She nodded and started playing._

At first, Tony didn't know what she was playing, but it wasn't until what had happened next that made him watch even more.

_"Smile, though your heart is aching. Smile, even though it's breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by…"_

Tony couldn't believe what he heard coming from Pepper. He had no idea that she could even sing like that. Her voice was beautiful, he could feel his eyes sting with tears starting to form. He continued to watch the entire performance.

_"If you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile and maybe tomorrow, you'll see the sun come shining through, for you…"_

Tony stopped the video there, freezing the picture at a happy Pepper Potts. She was different from the person he knew now. He wondered why she had stopped singing. It looked like it was something she loved.

Taking his time to finish going through the stuff in the box, Tony found a newspaper article that instantly caught his attention, the headline reading, _'Students mourn after two students injured, one killed in tragic accident'. _Tony then quickly discovered why Pepper quit everything she loved.

_'Senior James Stanley was killed in an automobile accident after a drunk driver collided with his car early Sunday morning. Two other students, juniors Virginia Potts and Samantha Hughes were injured in the crash. The two were quickly transported to the hospital after authorities were reported to the scene. Sources say none of the students were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash.'_

Tony realized that was how she became who she was to this day. Her boyfriend died in a car crash. He wondered why she never talked about anything related to college, and this was most likely the reason why. It broke his heart knowing her heart was broken like that.

After looking through most of the memories Pepper had hidden away for so long, Tony still couldn't understand why she hadn't told him about this.

Tony sat on the floor in silence, he didn't know how to register what he had just seen. It wasn't until JARVIS came on in the room that broke him from his trance.

_Sir, Agent Coulson is on the line._

Tony broke out of his trance and grabbed the phone.

"Coulson, what's going on?" Tony answered the phone.

"Hammer just sent another video message," Coulson said from the other line. "I'm sending Romanoff back to get you. You need to see this."


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: Again, thank you for all the reviews and support. I really appreciate it. For this chapter, I will be honest I had a hard time trying to come up with a good threat, but I hope it makes sense. The story gets better. Thank you for reading!_**  
**

**Chapter Seven**

The room was cold. Still tied to the chair, Pepper shivered through both her pain and anger for being stuck in this situation. She could feel the streak of tears dried on her cheek. This was not how she thought the result of breaking up with Tony would end up. Now she regretted the whole thing. She needed him now.

Pepper looked around the room to see if there were any means of escape. She knew she was being recorded at one point in time, she just couldn't find the camera. Looking around some more, she realized that Hammer could possibly be watching her right now. Pepper knew it was hopeless to even consider trying to escape. So she closed her eyes.

However, she only had her eyes closed for a few seconds before she heard the metal door clang open. Opening her eyes, she saw Hammer and another man walk in.

"Alright princess, we're moving you to a different room." Hammer told her and ordered the other man to untie her from the chair. As the man was loosing up the knots around her wrist, Pepper considered the amount of time she could try and escape from the room. Although she figured her odds were low.

"Where are you taking me now?" Pepper asked as the other man picked her up and placed her on her feet, then proceeded to wrap handcuffs around her already bruised wrists.

"Oh you'll see," Hammer had a sadistic smile on his face. "Now march."

Pepper did what she was told. The man took Pepper's arm and forcefully pulled her out of the room she was currently in and walked her to the new destination. With Hammer trailing behind them, Pepper tried to hardest to discreetly look to see where she was.

The building was dark and damp. Pepper couldn't exactly see anything of value, but she also felt light-headed from a lack of food and water. The man eventually dragged her to a pitch black room. It was so dark in the room, Pepper's eyes wouldn't adjust. It wasn't until Hammer switched the light on that she knew this wouldn't end well. Pepper could see some type of HAMMER TECH contraption that looked like a pure torture chamber, including it's own restraints.

"Come on Potts darling, I have a present for you." Hammer looked at her and signaled to the man. Pepper could feel him pull her closer to the machine.

"Hammer, what is this? What do you plan to do with me?" Pepper practically pleaded.

He came up close to her as she was being strapped into the contraption. "Oh, the whole world is about to see what Justin Hammer has in store."

Natasha had picked him up in record time. She and Tony had made it back shortly after Coulson initially called. The two walked into headquarters and went directly back into the room they had been in only hours ago.

"Coulson, what's going on?" Tony asked, looking at the agent.

"We just got another link to a video feed," He said and pointed to the visualizer screen. "We think it's going to be a live feed because it's been stuck on this image for the last ten minutes."

Tony looked up at the screen and saw the logo for HAMMER TECH frozen on the screen. "Does anyone know where this is being transmitted?" He asked.

"No, we can't tell if this is a private link, or if the world can see it." An agent told him.

"We're working on tracing the signal," another spoke up. "Hopefully it'll work better once the actual feed is working."

"If you want, I can hook up JARVIS and see if he'll find the signal," Tony suggested, but everyone disregarded him. Looking around, Tony couldn't find Steve, Clint, or Fury anywhere in sight.

"If you're looking for the others, you can come with me." Natasha told him and headed up a set of stairs. Tony followed and quickly noticed the others looking through Hammer's files on the computer.

"Stark, it's good to see you again, feeling better?" Fury asked. Tony knew that was Fury's sense of humor kicking in, but it still wasn't welcome.

However, Tony couldn't reply. There was commotion coming from below. Looking over the rails, the agents were struggling to start tracing the video feed.

"Sir, the feed is live," an agent called from below. Tony and the others ran down the stairs to see what the commotion was about. They had gotten down just in time to see Hammer's face appear on the screen.

"Turn it up," Fury ordered just in time.

"Thought you had me locked up good," Hammer spoke into the camera. "Well Fury, looks like you were wrong this time."

Everyone watched as the camera panned out and created a long shot view of Hammer in a lab of some sort.

"Well, I have some great news for you all. While I was locked up in prison and everyone thought all my weapons had been confiscated, I had some men working for me undercover to help me with my latest invention," Hammer walked out of the frame and it was black for a split second. Lights then came up and revealed to them what Hammer had been talking about.

Tony watched what happened frame by frame. He and everyone else saw this contraption that Hammer had built and saw the one person in real danger. Pepper was being restrained against her will while strapped into whatever sick machine this was. Tony noticed that she was completely immobile.

"I thought you'd like to have a look at my newest contraption. I like to call it, Redemption." Hammer said and pushed a button. The machine turned on and started steaming. Pepper looked around, trying to determine what was happening. She couldn't tell what exactly this machine did, until she noticed a giant weapon in her face. Tony and the others watched as this machine terrorized Pepper.

"Alright, switch it off," Hammer yelled and looked at his creation. The machine powered off and Pepper struggled to move around in the restraints. She was in tears and she was scared. Hammer looked back at the camera.

"Like it? I designed it myself." The machine moved itself back to normal. "Redemption is my new project, and I can't wait to show the world what it can really do." Hammer looked away from the camera for a second. "Hey, get a sample from her, will you." He told his assistant.

Another man came into the frame. He was holding a syringe and went straight for Pepper. Tony could tell she was resisting, but the man grabbed her arm and stuck the needle in. Pepper stifled her scream, but they knew she was in agony.

"Now, I hope I have your attention," Hammer looked back into the camera. "Because if you don't give me what I want soon," He paused and turned to look back at Pepper. "Well, I just know how important she is to you." He laughed and walked out of the frame.

Pepper looked as if she was going into shock, her body was still immobilized while strapped to the machine. She opened her mouth to say something, but the screen went black before anything happened.

Everyone stood in shock for a few minutes, before Steve opened his mouth.

"What does Hammer exactly plan to do with that machine?" He asked and looked at Director Fury.

"It sure doesn't look like much to me," Clint opened his mouth. The others looked at him.

"That machine can definitely cause some damage," Tony said. The attention was averted from Clint. "Hammer isn't going to show us everything the machine can do yet. He's trying to taunt me into coming because of Pepper." Tony looked at the others.

"Tony's right, I've seen what Hammer can do, and it might not be that good, but it can definitely do some damage." Natasha said.

Fury stared at his agents. He wasn't going to say anything because he knew they were on the right track to coming up with the solution.

"Sir, there's a hit on a possible location," Coulson spoke up. "There's a forty-three percent match coming from a tower right before the border near the Baja California peninsula,"

Everyone looked at Fury. "Well, it sounds like there's a road trip in your future." He said and looked at his agents. "Pack a bag, you're headed to the Baja peninsula."


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Here's the next chapter! I appreciate the reviews. There's a little flashback scene to start you off. Hope you like it._

**Chapter Eight**

_"Tony, you have to go to the hospital. The doctor has to look at you," Pepper said as she got into the car._

_ "I don't have to do anything," Tony looked at his assistant. "I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. One, I want an American cheeseburger, and the other…"_

_ "That's enough of that." Pepper cut him off. She knew her boss too well._

_ "It's not what you think," Tony was snide with his remark. "I want you to call a press conference now."_

_ Pepper was confused. She had no idea what her boss was thinking. She really wanted him to go see the doctor. "Call a press conference? What on earth for?"_

_ Tony ignored her and looked at his driver._

_ "Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first."_

_ Pepper rolled her eyes as the driver began down the street._

Tony was anxious as he packed an overnight bag. There was only a forty-three percent chance that Pepper was even near that area, but it was worth a shot. As he was packing, he noticed something on his nightstand that he hadn't noticed before.

He picked what looked like an envelope with his name printed on the front. It was in Pepper's handwriting. Tony sat on the edge of the bed as he opened the envelope and pulled out a letter.

_Dear Tony,_

_ I'm writing this because I don't know how to tell you. I just don't know what to think about us anymore. Ever since New York things have been different and I don't know why. Things between us have changed, and I just don't know if I can deal with this anymore._

The writing just stopped. Tony looked to see that she never finished what she was writing. He could tell she had started writing something in her beautiful cursive, but the writing just stopped. He wanted to know what she was trying to say. He wouldn't know what to do if she left.

It confused him. He wished he would've known what he could've done to help her.

Tony put the note down and finished packing. He hoped this mission would have a positive outcome.

It wasn't much later when Tony was in a SHIELD jet with the others on their way to the Baja area. The goal, to find Pepper and re-arrest Hammer.

Tony sat next to a window and looked down at the desert. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. It wasn't until Natasha came over to talk to him that he actually listened.

"Stark, we're going to find her, you know that." Natasha said and looked at him. He still stared out the window. "Pepper's strong. She's going to be okay."

"You don't know that Romanoff," Tony turned to look at her. She noticed his eyes were red, most likely from lack of sleep. "You know what Hammer is capable of. He might not be the brightest person, but he is really smart about what he plans to do. His drones from the expo were smart."

Natasha knew Tony was right. She was going to tell him something else when Coulson and Steve came over.

"We're about to fly over the location that could possibly be the location," Coulson told them. "We're going to fly over and see if it is the right location and land at the air strip."

"That's fine." Tony said. He then looked at Coulson. "Are you staying behind the scenes on this one? Because as of now, Pepper still thinks you're dead."

Coulson nodded. "Yeah Stark, you should probably tell her about me sometime." He said and went back to the cockpit.

Steve looked at Tony, "You told her he was dead?"

"Well, at the time he was. I know Fury doesn't mention a lot, but still. This one was cruel." Tony said as he looked out the window back down at the desert.

"She's going to hate you both," Steve laughed. Tony managed a small smile, but in his head all he could think about was Pepper.

Tired, Pepper forced herself to stay awake. Knowing that she was being watched every moment, she didn't want to take herself off guard. Still strapped to the machine, Pepper could feel her muscles start to stiffen. She was uncomfortable.

Before she knew it, the door opened and she saw Hammer and his henchmen walking into the room.

"Take her out," Hammer ordered.

"Hammer, please just stop this. You can still get what you want, please just let me go." Pepper pleaded as one of the henchmen loosed the strap around her wrist.

"Not a chance honey," Hammer said and looked at his tablet. "There's a plane flying overhead right now, we have to move her." Hammer looked at another one of his guys.

"Where are you taking me now?" Pepper asked as she forced to sit up. The henchman who loosened her restraints then slapped a pair of handcuffs around her bruised wrists.

"I have a great place for you to go honey," Hammer said and gave her a flirtatious look. Pepper felt herself gag. She wasn't sure whether or not she should try to run, but as soon as she thought about it, the henchman took hold of her shoulders and started walking towards the door.

The man led Pepper to a room that looked almost like a science lab. It wasn't like Tony's lab with all his toys, this one was filled with test tubes and vials filled with colored liquids that she did not want to know the contents of.

"What is this place?" Pepper asked as she looked around the room again.

"It's our test subject lab," Hammer said, Pepper was nervous at how nonchalantly he said it. "Strap her to that table right there." He didn't look up from his tablet, but pointed to what he was talking about. Pepper followed his finger and saw what looked like an operating table.

"What do you plan on doing to me Hammer?" Pepper was stern. She was determined to get an answer.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough honey." He said and looked right into her eyes. "Strap her in boys and why you're at it, why don't you give her the first dose." Hammer laughed and left the room.

Before Pepper could react, she was taken by her shoulders and slammed down onto the table. Trying her hardest to fight the henchman, Pepper struggled, but was eventually restrained under a thick belt.

"Now stay still and this won't be painful Miss Potts," One of the henchmen told her as he walked near her with one of the vials she had seen earlier.

"Please don't do this. You're a nice guy, you can let me go. Please," Pepper pleaded profusely with him.

"I'm sorry, but I have to," He looked down at her and Pepper could see the good intent in his eyes, but she knew she couldn't convince him otherwise. "Alright, now don't move. It should only sting a little bit." He said and stuck the needle in her arm.

Pepper winced as she felt the needle poke into her vein. She felt as if her whole body was burning for a moment, then as if someone hit a switch, she got really tired.

"I'm really sorry Miss Potts," was the last thing she heard before everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

_AN: So, thank you to the wonderful reviewer who noticed my ridiculous mistake in chapters 7 and 8. That's what happens when I change things last minute. But, I fixed those and here's the next chapter. Sorry it's taken so long to update, I've felt uninspired the last few days. But, I really appreciate the feedback, really. So, thank you and enjoy._

**Chapter Nine**

"Right now, she's under a sedative, she'll wake up soon." Hammer said into the camera, then turned back to look at Pepper's unconscious body. "You're probably wondering what we're planning to do to her?" He questioned into the camera.

Tony and the others watched from the small screen that was set up in the plane. It was all they had at the moment.

"I don't plan on doing anything yet," Hammer laughed. "I just can't have her constantly complaining about wanting out. Seriously, how do you put up with her? Maybe we can celebrate later with some chocolate covered strawberries."

He laughed again before the video feed went black.

"What is up with that guy?" Steve asked. "He's acting like a maniac, isn't Miss Potts allergic to strawberries."

Everyone rolled their eyes at him.

"That's because he is a maniac, Rogers." Natasha spoke up. "He went insane the moment he spoke up in front of Tony Stark at the Congressional hearing."

Tony nodded, it was true. The moment he had blown Hammer's secret of testing his technology, Hammer had gone quite insane. Even if figuratively speaking.

"Now, we may have correct coordinates of where Hammer may be storing his equipment, but we can't be too sure," Coulson said. "Stark, since we know how much you like to break into the system, you think Jarvis can trace where the last video came from?"

This caught Tony's interest.

"If you can find where that last signal came from, I believe we can get the actual live feed from where Hammer is operating from."

Tony was beginning to like the sound of the plan. He instantly took charge of the computer and grabbed a little microchip that held Jarvis inside. Once uploaded to the computer, Tony took charge.

"Jarvis, can you pull up the screen names of every wireless internet connection on here. I need to be able to narrow it down to a certain source that is using up a lot of power at once." Tony spoke aloud to the computer.

_Certainly, sir. Would you like me to limit it to the greater southern California area, near the border?_

The computer spoke back. Steve, who was watching from behind was astounded by the technology that was out now, he could barely work a cell phone properly.

"That would be great, then can you narrow it down to the networks closest to the desert, over by where we are located now?" Tony said, he was getting in zone.

_Of course, I shall pull up the list shortly._

"Great, thank you Jarvis," Tony said and swiveled around in the chair. "What else should we do, Coulson?" He asked.

Coulson ignored Tony and looked at Clint and Natasha.

"Can you go and give both Fury and Hill the rundown of what's happening now? See what else they suggest we do."

The two nodded and walked to another part of the plane with a laptop.

"While that plan sounds good, I meant when can I get in on the action? Because, well you know, I am Iron Man and all and that is my girlfriend who is being treated as a test subject." Tony's voice began to raise, but he quickly stopped and dropped his head.

"You know I can't let you in on the action yet, Stark. It's a conflict of interest at the moment." Coulson said and stood up as if he was about to leave the room to where the other two went. "But that doesn't mean you won't be there soon enough." He said and left.

Tony and Steve were the only ones that remained in the room. They sat silent for a few minutes while Jarvis continued searching for networks.

"Pepper used to sing," Tony spoke out of the blue.

Steve looked at him, confused. He was not used to Tony just randomly talking about things that weren't science or technology related or something that would irritate him.

"Really? I've never thought of her as the performer type." Steve didn't know what to say to that. He's never seen Tony in this type of situation before. The only time he had ever really witnessed him like this was right after Coulson "died".

"Yeah, I was going through some of her stuff and found articles about acting and plays she was in while she was in college, I found videos of her performing. God she has the voice of angel." Tony said, thinking of all the videos he had watched of Pepper singing right before he left to come here.

"What would she sing?" Steve asked, he was actually enjoying hearing Tony talk about her, it was better than him just sitting there feeling helpless.

"Everything Rogers, she would sing in the most beautiful shows. She was an angel." Tony told him.

"So what happened?" Steve then asked. Tony's face went from pure enjoyment, back down to a stern look.

"Some type of accident." Tony said, flatly. It was partially true. He figured that he should probably stop talking about the things she hid from him for a reason. No one else needed to know.

Steve looked at him and realized he should probably stop talking.

Tony reclined in the chair, Jarvis was still running the tests. Coulson walked back in.

"Any news yet, Stark?" He said, his head not looking up from a file folder in his hand.

Tony pretended he didn't hear the agent and looked back at the computer screen, but that didn't stop Steve from speaking up.

"Not yet, Jarvis would let me know," Tony told him, still reclined in the chair, but now looking at the computer screen.

"Tony was just telling me that Pepper used sing while she was in college," He said to Coulson, who looked up from the folder. Tony looked at Steve and gave him a cold look.

"I've never seen her to be the performer type, Stark." Coulson looked over at Tony, who was still pretending to look at the computer screen.

"I think she wanted it to stay like that. Now no one is to mention this to her or even hint that we know, understood?" Tony said, he turned to look at the other two. They nodded and continued back to their business. It wasn't long after that when Jarvis spoke up.

_Sir, I've found the list of the networks you asked for._

The list popped up on the screen and Tony took over to look at what Jarvis came up with.

"Alright, these ones aren't important, I can just tell. This one right here stick out." He pulled the specific network from the small list Jarvis had complied.

The network, labeled _Unknown, _was using more that three-hundred percent of their computer's power, was their only hope to finding where Hammer was keeping Pepper.

"Alright Jarvis, I want you to decrypt the codes on the network and try to connect to whatever camera is around." Tony told his computer.

_Right away, sir. _The computer replied and starting running a program to decrypt the computer's mainframe.

"So, we're now a little closer. What can I do now Coulson?" Tony looked at the agent, a sly look on his face. He was ready to do more.

"I'm waiting for word from Barton and Romanoff on what Fury wants, because he'll want to be around when this happens.

"Fine," Tony said and went back to reclining in his chair.

The three were silent. They had run out of things to talk about.

"So she used to sing," Coulson spoke up. "I still have the number of that cellist. She might think I'm still dead, but the two could possibly meet."

Tony looked at the agent and smiled. It was the funniest thing he had heard in a while.

"Sure, Coulson, that would be great." He laughed.

Before much more could be said, Natasha walked back into the room.

"Yeah Romanoff," Coulson looked at her.

"Fury believes we're on the right track and this could be the place." She told him. "However, he wants to make sure we can get the feed first before we go in. Just to be sure."

"Stark, do you have access to any of those feeds yet?" He then asked.

Tony looked at the computer screen, the program Jarvis was running was only halfway through its scan.

"It's still looking. Jarvis will speak up as soon as he finds something." Tony told him.

"Alright, why don't you go get some sleep. I'll have Steve get you if we need anything." Coulson suggested. Tony looked at him like he was kidding. "Seriously Stark, you look exhausted. You'll be the first to know if anything new develops."

Reluctant, Tony got up from his chair and left the room. He soon realized how tired he really was as he was walking down the small hall to where there were more comfortable chairs. He barely made it before collapsing in the chair, closing his eyes. He didn't think he was this tired. As much as Tony fought to keep his eyes open, he quickly descended into a deep sleep. As he slept, the only thing on his mind was Pepper.

_"What is that?" Pepper asked as she looked at what Tony just brought for her._

_ "This is your in-flight meal." Tony said, looking at the not so appetizing omelet he tried to make._

_ "Did you just make that?" She asked, trying to keep the distain out of her voice. They were in the jet flying out of Italy after the disastrous race that nearly cost the lives of hundreds of people._

_ "Yeah, where do you think I've been for three hours?" He said back to her. Tony averted her eyes for a moment, which made Pepper wonder what he was thinking about._

_ "Tony, what are you not telling me?" She asked him. Tony looked at her for a split second. He should've told her that he was dying right then, but he avoided the subject._

_ "Why don't we go to Venice?" Tony suggested._

_ "We can't take a trip at a time like this," Pepper was outraged that he even suggested it. "As the new CEO of Stark Industries, I can't just leave like this. I have some damage control to do Tony, all because of you and that technology." She told him bluntly._

_ "You're right, that was a stupid suggestion." Tony said and got up from his chair. He walked back towards the back of the plane._

_ Pepper looked back at the TV screen and all the different reports that were on, but all she could think about in her mind, what was really wrong with Tony._


	10. Chapter 10

_AN: I apologize for taking so long to update. I've been so busy, it's ridiculous. But here it is, the next chapter. I really appreciate all of the nice reviews, it makes me feel much better to know people actually like reading this. Just reminding everyone this is how I interpret the relationship between Pepper and Tony, so it's my creative interpretation. Hope you enjoy._

**Chapter Ten**

Tony was dreaming about Pepper when he was shaken awake by Steve.

"What the hell Rogers," Tony opened his eyes. "You can't just do that to someone." He said and looked at his friend.

"You are such a sound sleeper. We've been trying to call you for the past ten minutes Tony," Steve said. "Your computer thing found the correct feed. I don't know how much more I can explain it."

That was all Tony needed him to say. He quickly sat up and walked back with Rogers to where everyone else was. This time, there had the other computers set up with Fury and Hill on the other side..

"Took you long enough, Stark," Fury said from the other monitor. Tony rolled his eyes and looked over at the main scree, which was now showing a live feed of the lab Hammer was keeping Pepper in.

"Yeah, same to you." Tony said and looked at the screen. "So Jarvis found the right feed? This is live?" He wanted to double check.

They all nodded. "This video feed is streaming live this instant. There's been no activity for the past thirty minutes. Miss Potts has been asleep this whole time." Natasha told him.

Tony looked at Pepper on the screen. He noticed that she didn't look like she was comfortable, but she was strapped a table. It tore his heart out, seeing her in so much danger.

"What time is it?" Tony asked, looking over at Coulson.

"It's one-thirty in the morning." Coulson said to him. The plane landed about a half hour ago. We're approximately forty-five minutes away from the site Hammer is at now."

"Have you considered infiltrating now?" Tony suggested.

The room went silent.

"You know that's not going to happen Stark," Fury gave him a stern warning from the other screen. "The rest of us are on our way to you right now. We're assembling the teams right now, we'll be there in no time."

Tony couldn't reply however, a voice coming from the screen made him turn away and watch. He could tell Pepper was having some sort of nightmare. She was rambling on about something, and whimpering in her sleep.

Everyone looked at the screen, where Tony quickly muted it, giving Pepper her dignity. No one else needed to hear her nightmares.

"Agents Barton and Romanoff were just explaining what the compound looks like." Coulson mentioned at Tony, trying to peel his eyes off the screen. "They were able to get the blueprints from Hammer's system."

"Your computer program rocks," Clint looked at Tony, while Natasha rolled her eyes at him.

Tony glanced away from the screen for a few seconds as Natasha started explaining what the blueprints looked like, but went right back to watching Pepper on the screen. '_If Only I was there for you now,_' Tony thought to himself.

As he was half-listening to Natasha, Tony noticed something on the feed that he automatically turned the volume back up.

"Stark, what do you think you're -" Coulson was quickly cut off by Tony.

"Listen, someone's coming." He said and everyone turned their attention back to the screen.

As Pepper was asleep on the table, the door to the room opened.

"I'm just going to loosen the straps around her wrists," A man's voice came into the room. The lights didn't turn on, but two men holding flashlights appeared into the frame.

"Hammer's going to kill you if he finds out what you're doing." Another voice said.

"Yeah, well I'd rather be the one that died. She has no business being here. What he's doing to her is wrong." The first man's voice spoke up.

Tony watched as the man who was trying to help Pepper, loosened the wrist restraints.

"I'm really sorry about all this Miss Potts." He said and the two left the room.

Tony wished Pepper would wake up and realize that there was a man who was willing to help her escape.

"How much longer do we need to bear witness to this before we can stop this?" Tony looked at everyone around. He was adamant to get an answer.

"We need one more feed from Hammer in order to find out his exact plans before we can storm in on something we don't know anything about." Fury said to him from the other screen. "Once we catch sight of what Hammer is really planning, then we can take action."

Tony was furious, but he didn't feel like arguing with them much longer.

"You're right, fine." Tony said and shut down. He couldn't deal with this anymore. He just wondered how Hammer could even do something like this.

"Alright, I think we all need to get some rest," Steve spoke up. Most people actually agreed with what he was suggesting. "How about we pick this back up later?"

With that, JARVIS was on alert in case something was to happen with the feed. The others headed back to the sleeping area of the plane and tried to get some sleep.

Tony reclined in the chair, but he was unable to sleep. Pepper was within his reach, but he wasn't allowed to get her. It made him feel terrible. As he lay there, he thought of some of the better days.

_It was early May and the air in New York was beginning to get warmer. Pepper stood out on the balcony of the hotel suite they had been staying while Stark Tower was being finished. Holding her coffee mug, she looked out at her view of Central Park and took in the sweet smell of spring._

_ "Enjoying the view," Tony came out and slipped his arms around her waist and gave her a peck on the cheek._

_ "Mhmm, it's nice. We should come out here more often. I miss this side of the country, sometimes." She looked at him._

_ "Well, once the tower is finished, you'll have more reason to come here," He told her and let go of her waist. "Not to mention, you'll have a much better view of the city."_

_ Pepper smiled and looked back out towards the city. _

_ "Are you hungry?" Pepper asked. "I can make you something before you go to the tower." _

_ Tony shook his head. "Nah, I'm going to shower in a few and head on out."_

_ Pepper nodded and walked back into their suite. Tony followed and closed the door to the balcony._

_ "Alright then, I'll just make breakfast for one." She said sarcastically and walked into the kitchenette. Tony rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and went into the bathroom._

_ In the kitchenette, Pepper turned on the radio and started to cook herself breakfast._

_ As the eggs were frying in the pan, one of Pepper's favorite songs came on._

_ Listening to the music, something in Pepper made her want to dance and sing. She rarely showed this type of enjoyment since college, especially around Tony. But Pepper figured since he was showering, he wouldn't see her._

_ Continuing to cook herself breakfast, she shuffled around the tiny kitchenette, while getting other things ready to eat. _

_ 'She loves to laugh, she loves to sing, she loves everything. She loves to move, she loves to groove, she loves the lovely things… Anyway you want it, that's the way you need it, anyway you want it.'_

_ Pepper was halfway through the chorus of the song when she swung around in her slippers and saw Tony standing in the doorway._

_ "Oh my," Pepper immediately shut down and looked at him. "I thought you were showering?" _

_ "It doesn't take me an hour to shower like you, Pepper." Tony said and looked at her. He wondered why she stopped so fast. He thought it was cute seeing her dance and sing around like that. It was a different side of Pepper he had never seen before. "What are you doing?"_

_ Pepper could feel her face flush and most likely turn bright red in color. "I was cooking." She said as she turned down the radio and scooped the eggs onto a plate._

_ "Sure you were," Tony said and took the orange juice pitcher from the counter. Pouring himself a glass, he looked as Pepper, who was still parading around in one of his button-up shirts, and wondered about her past that he didn't already know. "You sounded nice, will you sing me a song?" _

_ Tony was trying to be cute, but Pepper shot him a look that could kill._

_ "I can't sing, I don't sing." She told him and got up from her chair. "I'm going to shower." _

_ Pepper hadn't touched her breakfast when she walked towards the bathroom. Tony watched her walk away and wondered what nerve he had hit. _

_ 'She did sound lovely,' Tony thought to himself as he took over her uneaten plate and took a piece of toast before walking out the door for his meeting._


	11. Chapter 11

_AN: Surprise, it's a double chapter night! Here's the next one. Hope you enjoy it. Don't worry, the action is soon to come._

**Chapter Eleven**

_Are those bullet holes?_

Pepper woke herself up from the nightmare she was having. This was not the life she imagined she'd be having. She had no idea that she'd work for the Tony Stark, let alone fall in love with him.

And now she was tied up somewhere she didn't know. She regretted the argument she had with Tony. She couldn't even think of what day it was. She needed him.

Pepper moved around a little and realized the wrist restraint had been loosened. Pulling her wrist free, she proceeded to then loosen the other restraints around her waist and her feet. Realizing that she had been too anxious to release the restraints, her head felt light and dizzy. She sat in the dark and let her eyes adjust for a minute, then she looked for the exit.

As she was getting up, she noticed the videocamera in the corner of the room. The little red light signaled the camera was recording, but at this point, she didn't care. All she wanted to do was get out.

Walking to the door, she listened carefully to hear if anyone was coming. Hearing no footsteps, Pepper carefully unlatched the door. Stepping out into the dark hallway, she remembered that she still had no idea where she was or what she was doing. But that didn't matter, Pepper made a run for it.

Not knowing where she was going, she tried her best to look for similar things when she had been being transferred from the different rooms. To her, it was the closest she would get to retracing her steps. Walking down the semi-lit hall, she carefully and quietly made her way through. Passing several doors, she realized she could've passed Hammer any moment and she could easily be killed.

The hall seemed never ending to Pepper as she finally made it to what looked like a fork in the road. 'Left or right, which way looks like freedom?' Pepper thought to herself as she tried to make a quick decision. She stood for a second, contemplating which looked right. Then, at that moment, she heard noises coming from behind her. In a panic, Pepper decided to go to the left, hoping there would be a way out. She hid in the shadows of a room and hoped she wouldn't get caught.

However, hearing the voices louder than ever before, Pepper realized she may be in more trouble than she thought.

Tony awoke with a start. He could hear commotion coming from the room where the computers were. Sitting up, he managed to make his way to the others. Whatever was happening, Tony knew it had to do with Pepper.

The others were already there, but it didn't matter what they were doing. Tony had looked at the screen and noticed Pepper wasn't strapped to the table anymore.

Coulson noticed Tony first. "Stark, it's not what it looks like." Coulson said to him.

"Where the hell did she go?" Tony's voice was raised.

"Calm down Stark," Natasha spoke up next, looking at the blueprints on the computer. "We're looking for her now. She figured out the loosened straps, but now we think she's lost inside the building."

Tony was confused. How could someone get lost in a building?

"There is no definite entrance, we don't know how Hammer is getting in and out of the building." Natasha looked at him, trying to give a little sense of hope. "She'll find her way and when she does, we'll all be there to help."

Tony looked at her, then looked at Coulson. "What are we trying to find then?"

"We got the blueprints for the building he's in, but it isn't a complete set." Coulson showed him the layout on the computer. "There's some vital things missing, like where all the entrances are. Hammer isn't stupid."

"He certainly is not," Tony said. "But he is stupid for thinking he could mess with me."

Tony decided to start looking through the prints with Coulson and the others to see if he could help try and locate any of the entrances to the building. This was crucial to finding what Hammer's plans were for Pepper. '_What exactly was Project Redemption?' _Tony thought to himself.

"You should know not to mess with me," Hammer was holding one of his gun's to a man's head. Pepper stood behind a pillar to avoid being seen by anyone. "I'm the man with the big guns."

Trying to get a better look at the man Hammer was threatening, Pepper turned her head slightly around the pillar. She recognized the man as the one who kept apologizing earlier, '_He must've been the one who loosened the restraints,' _Pepper thought to herself and continued to watch what was going on.

"There is a security camera in that room, did you seriously think that you would get away with loosening her restraints to help her escape?" Hammer asked, but he didn't let the man answer. "Well, I have the perfect punishment for you."

Pepper watched as Hammer lifted the gun right to the back of the man's head. She covered her ears and closed her eyes so she didn't see or hear the shot. However, something prevented Hammer from shooting the man.

"What do you mean she's not there anymore?" Hammer yelled into an earpiece. "Well, get the whole team on it. Look all over the building. There's no way she could get out, so she's here somewhere."

After yelling at the rest of the men, Hammer went back to his hostage.

"Say some last prayers Larson, your time here is done." And there was a bang. Pepper tried her hardest to stifle her cry. It was the first time she had witnessed a murder. She then hid in the shadows as Hammer came walking towards her general direction. "Clean this up," Hammer said to another man.

Holding her breath, Pepper stayed still until she thought Hammer had left the room. Coming out from behind the pillar, she couldn't leave the way Hammer had just gone, but she didn't want to stay in the same room with a dead body.

Trying to think of another way out, Pepper didn't register the footsteps that were making its way into the room. It wasn't until there was a bag over her head that she realized this could be it for her.

Everyone was so focused different tasks, that they initially didn't see the action that was happening on the screen above them. It wasn't until they heard voices, that anyone looked up. Looking at the screen, Tony could see two men trying to get someone under control. He figured it was most likely Pepper because of the female structure of the body, but he wasn't sure due to the bag over the person's head.

Coulson had turned the volume up on the video and everyone watched as the men couldn't get an exact control on Pepper.

"Quit moving, you're making this harder than it needs to be," One of the men told her as they tried to strap her back in. There were mumbles coming from the video, but no one could understand what was being said.

Everyone watched as the men struggled with her for a few more minutes until Hammer walked into the room. Tony watched as Hammer pulled out a little device from his pocket, then told his men to cover their ears. He then watched as he ripped the bag off of Pepper's head and held the device to her ear.

He instantly recognized the device, it was similar to the one his company used to make and the one Obadiah stole and used on him. It instantly paralyzes people.

Pepper didn't even have time to react when the bag was ripped off her head. As soon as the bag was off, her body went rigid.

"Breathe," Hammer said as he caught her body as she fell backwards and leaned her back onto the table. "It'll only last fifteen minutes." Although Pepper couldn't move her head, she still looked up at Hammer. A tear streaked down her cheek.

Hammer laughed as he walked around her. "Like this, it was a gift. Obadiah Stane, mailed it to me one day. He knew I was working on weapons, figured it would be of importance. Now, I see how cool this really is." He began to strap her back into the restraints. "Now, how funny is it that your boyfriend, who invented this, can't be here to save you now." Hammer pointed out.

Tony realized that Hammer doesn't know that they had hacked into his system and were listening to him right there.

"See honey, he's not here for you. He probably doesn't even care that you're not there, he's probably sleeping with some random woman he just met. And look at you, all helpless without him here." Hammer laughed. It was still clear that Pepper was immobile. "I think now is the perfect time to start redemption." He announced and looked at his men. "Get the machine ready boys, I have some business to conduct." Hammer and his men disappeared from the room, leaving Pepper paralyzed and restrained to the table.

Tony looked at the others, who then looked at Coulson, who was holding the phone, where Fury was on the other line.

"Do we have enough reason to go in and attack sir?" Natasha was the first to speak. She finally understood why Tony was so adamant to get Pepper out of there. They were on the phone with Fury and the others, who were almost to their location.

"I'll have you guys figure out a plan," Fury said from the other line. "Let me know when you do, then I'll see."

The four of them looked over at Coulson, who shrugged.

"What type of plan are we supposed to make?" Clint asked looking at them.

"We have to have a plan of attack," Steve looked at him. "It's the only way that'll get us in Hammer's lab." Looking over at Tony, Steve wondered if he had a plan. Thinking about it, Tony wasn't sure if he had a plan.

Then it hit him. Tony pulled up the blueprints on the computer and began looking through them.

"What is it Stark?" Natasha asked.

"I think I might have an idea." Tony looked at them and signaled to Steve that he was ready.


	12. Chapter 12

_AN: Over 5,500 views! I really appreciate all the support. Thank you so much. So, like I promised, all of the action is about to begin. Also, I wrote this story a while ago and I just didn't want to post it, but I'm glad I did. Thank you so, so much. I don't own anything but the redemption machine._

**Chapter Twelve**

"JARVIS, are the systems up and running?" Tony asked as he was finishing up getting ready in his latest Mark suit model.

_Yes sir, the systems are up and ready to function. _

Tony was ready to get Pepper back. He and the others had a plan that would not only save Pepper, but stop Hammer once and for all.

"Now, you know on my signal to cut the power to all the systems in Hammer's building?" Tony asked his AI. This really was the moment.

_Of course sir, on your signal._

Knowing this, Tony, all ready in his Iron Man suit, was ready for whatever battle Hammer was going to throw at him. As he waited for the others to get ready, he wondered how these next few events would unfold. It could end in happiness or tragedy, and he refused the latter of the two. He couldn't even think about what he would do if this plan backfired.

"You ready Stark?" Steve looked up at the Iron Man suit. It was hard getting a reading of Tony's thoughts because of the serious expression of the Iron Man mask.

"Never been more ready in my life," Tony said through the mask. "Let's do this." Everyone was here now, Fury and Hill and several other agents were all here and ready to take down Hammer and his men. This was all getting too real.

Hammer stood in front of his majestic creation. It was the greatest weapon he had ever created.

_Redemption,_ it was the perfect name for the perfect weapon. With its target noted and missiles ready, Hammer was ready for anything. The bait was set, the machine was ready, but all he needed was the plan. As he was thinking, he didn't even notice his men walking a tied up and helpless Pepper into the room.

"Sir, is everything ready?" One of the men asked. Hammer broke out of his trance and looked at her. Her hands tied behind her back and a gag tied around her mouth, she couldn't say anything to protect herself.

"Yeah, get her in the control room. I have a call to make." He said and walked out of the room for the moment.

Pepper, still feeling some of the effects from the paralysis stint Hammer pulled on her, she could barely move while the men forced her into this little room. The forced her into a chair, tied her wrists and ankles down, so she couldn't move. Looking around, she saw computer screens and a whole lot of buttons, but she didn't know what any of them could do.

However, she sat there was something she noticed about the computer. She could tell it was programmed with software that could be run by someone else from another computer. She was just the bait.

"You like the new addition?" Hammer came back into view. "I thought of it myself. It seemed that my original plan wasn't working for me, so I made a new one." He said to her as he pulled the gag from her mouth.

Pepper knew Hammer didn't have a plan. All those things he injected her with haven't done a thing to her except threaten Tony, who still wasn't here to rescue her.

"You don't have a plan, Hammer. You have never had a plan, even at the Stark Expo. Why would you shame yourself again?" Pepper looked at him, her body slowly recovering. "You are just a belligerent man who doesn't know when to stop."

Hammer was now in her face.

"You don't know what you're talking about honey," Hammer was threatening her personal space. "I have had these plans ready for years, I just needed the right time to unveil them. Things were great until your boyfriend ruined them for me with his whole Iron Man charade and then creating his clean-energy campaign. Now that I have his rock, I can prove to everyone that I'm more serious than ever this time."

It was a big threat, but he still seemed unsure. However, Pepper was still sure the didn't know what he was doing, which scared her the most because this could backfire at any second. Pepper felt threatened and she wanted to fight back, but everything was preventing her from doing this, but it wasn't until the computers in the room started flickering that she knew something was about to happen.

"Sir, something's breaking into our mainframe. There's a security breach." One of Hammer's men yelled up to him.

Hammer's gaze on her was broken as he turned to look at the man.

"What do you you mean someone's breaking into our mainframe? It's a secure connection." Hammer thought about it for a second, then looked back at Pepper. "Oh, I think I already know who it is." He said and went down to his control room. "Your man is going to be in for a big surprise honey, just you wait and see."

Pepper thought about the only thing that could hack into someone's mainframe like that, _JARVIS_. Which meant that Tony wasn't far behind. This was a huge relief on Pepper, until she remembered she was in a room that controlled the machine which Hammer said was capable of anything he desired. _Tony, please be careful when you come for me,_ Pepper closed her eyes and could hear the machine start to power up. _This could end very badly._

"JARVIS, have you switched off Hammer's mainframe?" Tony asked as he was flying behind the SHIELD van heading toward Hammer's facility.

_Yes sir, the motherboard was switched off, but I can't help but detect a backup energy source. It is perhaps a generator, it is not producing much energy._

The AI told him. That was all Tony needed. They needed Hammer's facility to have the least amount of power possible in order to blast through the walls.

"Stark, don't get too ahead of yourself," Tony could hear Steve's voice through his headset. "This is the make it or break it moment."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Cap, I already know this. I won't get too, what's the word for it, excited." He then saw the building that Hammer was occupying. It was indeed in the middle of nowhere.

"Stark, are you ready for this?" Fury asked over the intercom. "This could get messy."

"I've been ready for the past few days," Tony said as he started to slow down behind the van. This was all getting too exciting for him. "How do you want to go through with this? Am I busting through the wall or the door? The wall sounds more exciting…" Tony suggested.

"Stay with the plan Stark, this is a vital mission, if we mess up, you know the consequences." Tony could hear Hill over the intercom. As much as she annoyed him, he knew she was right.

"You're right, through the door it is." Tony said and followed the van the last few miles.

This was all getting too real for Tony. He thought about the last time she was in danger, at the Expo. If he wouldn't have been there to save her before the drones blew up, she wouldn't be here today.

_"I quit," Pepper threw her hands up to her face in frustration. "I'm resigning. My body literally can't handle the stress." She looked at Tony. "I don't know when you're going to kill yourself, or mess up the whole company."_

_ "I think I did okay," Tony looked at her. Pepper looked at him in disbelief. She could not take anymore of what was happening. She really needed a vacation. Pepper was thinking so hard about her future, that she didn't even see Tony pull her in for a kiss._

_ Pepper was stunned by what was happening, but then she realized that it was right. It may not have been the right time, but the moment was nice. Her hand went up to his head and pulled herself closer._


	13. Chapter 13

_AN: Holy crap, I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. But here you go, the next chapter. Thank you so much for all the positive reviews. I worked really hard on this chapter and it took a while to write, but enjoy!_

**Chapter Thirteen**

Everything was black, she couldn't see a thing and she couldn't even hear the voices that were speaking around her.

"She's flat-lining, grab the paddles," a medic called out, grabbing the paddles and bringing the electrical charge to life. "And clear."

There was an electric charge sent through her, giving her life again. It was painful too.

"There's a pulse," the medic said, feeling the barely there pulse in Pepper's neck. "Put the oxygen on her, NOW."

It was still black, but now she could barely hear voices around her. She didn't know what was happening. What had happened to her?

Tony watched from a far. A medic was applying bandages to his cuts and wrapping his injured shoulder. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. And now he might lose the one person that he couldn't live without. And it was all his fault.

He thought about what had just happened, it had happened so fast.

…

She heard gunshots first. Looking up at the screens in front of her, she could now see what was happening right before her eyes. Pepper could see the others storming inside the facility, wanting to take Hammer down. She felt terrible, they had no idea what he had in store for them.

Looking at another screen, she could see what Hammer, or one of his men was doing from the real control room, they were calibrating his machine, Redemption. It was all set, a gun that would take out whomever tried to stop him. It was hopeless. Sitting, tied up to the chair, she wondered if this would be worth it. She didn't even know if she'd get out of here alive.

"Alright princess," Pepper could hear Hammer's voice coming from a speaker. "Ready to see what this machine can do?" He was a maniac. She looked back at the screen, she could see Tony and the others making their way through.

She wanted to scream, there was no way Hammer had the guts to shoot right at them, but she was wrong. Looking at the calibration screen, she could see he was ready.

_Target acquired. Take aim, and fire._

Pepper closed her eyes, she couldn't watch it anymore. If Tony was going to die at the hands of Hammer, she might as well die too.

_Sir, there's a signature read coming from a room in the east wing of the building. _

JARVIS spoke through Tony's earpiece. He was making his way into the facility with the others, ready to take down Hammer.

"Make your way into the mainframe JARVIS," Tony spoke to the AI. "You already hacked into the system once, find out where Pepper is." He said, shooting a hole in the wall with a beam from his repulser. However, he didn't expect what happened next.

Tony thought this should've been an easy mission. Hammer wasn't that big of a threat, but obviously he had stepped up his game.

He was on the ground. There had been shots fired near him. Coming from Hammer's machine, they were like the mini flares he had come up with for his Mark Models. This surprised Tony greatly, he didn't think Hammer had it in him, to come up with some type of weapon that actually worked. Especially after the whole issue when he added onto Rhodey's armor months ago. The ex-wife missile that didn't even work, well he had fixed that technology some.

"Stark, do you copy?" Tony could hear Natasha's voice through his earpiece. "Hammer's giving everything he's got already."

"No he's not, that's the problem," Tony said to her, getting back up on his feet and trying to think of a better plan to get to Hammer. "He's just getting started." Looking around, he could see some agents trying to make their way through the facility to locate Hammer.

Pepper watched the footage of what was happening. She saw some agents down. She could now see Tony and the others in the building. She knew he was going to be in for a big surprise. She then noticed something happening to the screen that was showing the machine commands. It was cutting in and out, malfunctioning somewhat. JARVIS? She thought to herself. She would be glad if he took the controls anytime.

She tried to loosen herself from the restraints that kept her tied down to the chair. She wanted to get out of here.

_Miss Potts, I have been ordered by Mr. Stark to shut down the machine._

The AI had found the room she was in and spoke through the same speaker Hammer's had moments ago.

"JARVIS, I'm not controlling the machine," Pepper said, too eagerly. She was relieved as soon as she heard the AI. This meant Tony was close and Hammer could possibly be taken down. "Can I talk to Tony?" She asked, her voice was low. She knew Hammer was most likely listening.

The AI began running its own diagnostics on the machine and put her through to Tony.

"Pepper, you don't have to worry anymore," she could hear Tony yelling through the commotion that was happening below them. "I'm shutting Hammer down and this will be over with soon."

She let out a cry as soon as she heard his voice. She wanted to believe him, but she didn't.

"Tony, he's got this place booby-trapped. You're just playing his game." She said to him, wanting to believe he would just swoop down and save her like he's done before. She could hear gunshots going like crazy, she knew he understood what she was talking about.

Tony knew she was right, in a sense. Hammer actually knew what he was doing this time, but he refused to believe this would be the end. She never deserved this and he felt terrible that he got her involved in this mess.

Following JARVIS' signal to where Pepper was, he destroyed some of the guns that were place around the building and made his way to her.

"Hammer, shut this down now." Tony said through his headset. He didn't care whether or not Hammer could hear him or not, but Jarvis should've gotten into the system.

"What the HELL," Tony could hear Hammer yell through his earpiece. "How the hell did you get into my system?"

"You're security program sucks," Tony laughed and shot his way through some walls. He was breaking every SHIELD protocol and he definitely wasn't going with the plan anymore.

"We're taking you down, Hammer." Pepper yelled from the room she was in.

Tony was surprised at how much spunk she had.

"Listen to the lady, Hammer. It's time to shut this down." Tony said and blasted another hole in the wall. He heard a scream and realized he found Pepper.

Not expecting him to just burst through the wall like that, Pepper barely had enough time to shield herself from the debris.

"Tony," she cried out. She half-smiled and teared up seeing the familiar Iron Man suit.

"Pep," he made his way to her, but was stopped by the giant screens, which now showed Hammer. He then saw a self destruct button blinking red on the 'control pad'.

"Not so fast," Hammer said. Tony lifted the faceplate and looked directly at the screen. "She has no control here. Hand over your suit, or I'll blow the place up." He said.

Pepper looked at the button that was blinking red. She didn't really think this could be the end.

"You're not getting the suit or the technology, Hammer." Tony warned, he didn't make a move. He could tell Hammer was unstable.

"You give me the suit, or you're both dead. You're all dead. The place will go up and I'll win." Hammer continued to speak. Pepper looked at the screen and took a deep breath.

"We found where Hammer is," Tony could hear someone through his earpiece. "We can take him down now."

Taking a breath, he thought about what the easiest way to take Hammer down. JARVIS was still working his magic to stop all the machines, but this could be a make or break experience.

"Time to choose Stark, what do you want?" Hammer asked, now it was clear he was insane.

"Wait," he spoke. Tony took off his helmet and looked at Hammer. "You're right. I'll give you the suit, just let her go, NOW." He yelled. The earpiece was still nestled in his ear and he gave an order. He knew Fury would have a problem with it, but he'd discuss that with him later.

"Shit," Hammer yelled and hit the button.

_Self-destruct in sixty seconds._

They froze. Pepper looked over at Tony, she was still tied up in the chair. He went over to her and started to try and free her from the restraints.

"You bastard," Tony yelled at the screen and right at Hammer. The other agents had made it into the room to get Hammer and the others with him.

_Thirty seconds until self-destruction_

"Shit," Tony muttered. He could hear her crying some. "Pepper, don't worry." Tony said, trying to keep her calm.

"Tony, I'm so sorry," Pepper said to him through her sobs. She didn't want any of this to happen.

"This isn't your fault, don't start." He said, getting to the last restraint.

_Fifteen seconds until self-destruction_

"Crap," He said. "Pepper, take my hand." Tony held out his arm, but Pepper was still trapped in the restraint.

"I can't get out, Tony." She said. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

_Ten seconds until self-destruction_

"Everyone, grab Hammer and get out of here," Tony said, he could still hear the others through his earpiece and hoped they could hear him. "The machine is going to blow up." He said as he finally busted through the last restraint, freeing Pepper.

He grabbed her, got out of the room and mentally counting down the seconds in his head, Tony flew as fast as he could with Pepper in tow, however as soon as he heard the explosion he knew they were in for it.

…

"Stark, can you copy?" Tony could barely hear Steve's voice through the earpiece. As he opened his eyes, he realized his vision was blurry and he could barely see in the haze of smoke and debris. "Stark, it's Rogers, do you copy?"

Getting up, he looked around to see where Pepper was, because she wasn't by him anymore. "Yeah Rogers, I copy." Tony said.

"Just letting you know we have Hammer in custody and we have medical assistance on the way." Steve told him over the intercom. "Do you have Pepper?"

Tony looked around. He could barely see anything.

"No, she's under the debris somewhere. I can barely see in here." Tony said. He began using whatever strength he had left to start moving whatever he could.

"Do you need assistance?" Steve asked, but something caught Tony's eye instead. He walked over to where he had fallen, underneath some debris, he noticed her strawberry-blonde hair. And the piece of metal that punctured her skin.

"Pepper," He rushed to her assistance. Kicking away the debris, Tony struggled getting Pepper from underneath a piece of the damaged machine.

"Tony, what's going on?" Steve's voice came through the earpiece again.

"Pepper's trapped under some scrap metal. I'm having a hard time getting her out." Tony said as he struggled some more. Eventually he was able to throw away the metal and move Pepper. "Rogers, I got her. Now I have to find my way out of here."

Tony picked Pepper up from the ground, he noticed she was barely breathing and was scraped up pretty badly. As he was trying to maneuver his way to the exit, he heard a small voice.

"Tony?" It was Pepper. Her voice was low and weak.

"Pepper, don't say anything. I'm getting you out of here. You'll be safe in a minute." Tony told her, hoping he could get her to medical attention fast.

"I'm sorry," She said before going unconscious completely, her body going limp. Tony was determined to get her out faster.

"Don't you dare leave me Pepper Potts, I'm not losing you now." Tony said as he walked closer to light. He could see the flashing lights from the ambulance and other SHEILD cars ready to survey the scene. "You're going to be alright."


	14. Chapter 14

_AN: Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews. It seriously makes my day a lot brighter. Here's the next chapter. I hope you __enjoy reading it as much as I liked writing it. _

**Chapter Fourteen**

_"If I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck. She's always be worrying I was going to die, yet so proud of what I've become. She'd be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more crazy about me. Tell me you never think about that night?"_

_ Tony looked at his assistant, who was covering up the scratches on his face from the battle the night before._

_ "What night?" Pepper looked at him._

_ "You know," Tony told her._

_ "Are you talking about the night that we danced and went up on the roof, and then you went downstairs to get me a drink, and you left me there, by myself? Is that the night you're talking about?" Pepper's voice was blunt with her explanation._

_ "Mhmm," Tony replied, because he knew that was the exact outcome of how that evening ended._

_ "Thought so," Pepper said and turned her back to him. "You have one minute."_

Tony sat in the waiting room of the SHIELD infirmary (that he didn't even think existed) waiting for Pepper to come out of surgery. The day's events replayed in his head. It was his fault she was fighting for her life. He wouldn't know what to do if he lost her.

He stared at the wall, not thinking of much as he waited. He ignored the pain in his shoulder and continued to think. He was Iron Man, he was the one who should've been hurt. Tony could finally understand why she wanted to leave in the first place.

To him, it felt like hours had passed since they had gotten to the infirmary. He wondered if the news was going to be grim. Normally things that took this long didn't end well. Closing his eyes, he tried to think of the positive.

The others were still in the desert, picking up the pieces of the destroyed machine and wondering what Hammer's real intention was. Hell, Tony couldn't even put together what Hammer was really trying to do. All he knew now, was that Pepper was paying the price.

"Mr. Stark," a doctor, clad in all white came out to meet him. Tony broke out of his daze, looking up at the doctor. He didn't even have the strength to get up. He could barely comprehend the thoughts that were going through his mind right now. He had a feeling she was gone.

"Miss Potts is out of surgery," the doctor said. "We have her in a recovery room right now. She's real lucky to be alive right now. She's quite the fighter." He said, offering to take him to her room. Standing up, he winced, but he still ignored the pain in his shoulder.

Tony still couldn't believe what he was hearing, Pepper was going to be okay.

"She lost a lot of blood from where the metal was pulled from her skin. It was a big tear, but we stitched that up just fine. She's got a few broken ribs and some cuts and bruises." The doctor explained, walking with Tony down the hall before stopping in front of a door. "She'll be out for a while, but she's breathing fine on her own now."

Opening the door, the doctor let Tony in first. He hadn't seen her since the medics took her to the operating room. Seeing her unconscious and bandaged up, he wondered how much pain she would be in when she woke up. However, he'd be there for her.

"The anesthesia will wear off soon, she'll wake up when she's ready." The doctor said, getting ready to close the door. "We'll be checking in often."

Tony nodded and made his way to Pepper's bedside. He looked her over, seeing her fragile body, so frail and broken. Her red hair didn't shine like it used to. He pulled a chair close to her bed, sitting down, he grabbed her hand. There was a bandage wrapped around her wrist, most likely for the fact the skin was raw from all the restraints.

"I am so sorry Pepper," he said, his voice was low. He fought back tears. Tony Stark was not the one to cry, but this was different. This was the woman he loved. "You never deserved this. I should be the one lying there right now, not you." He closed his eyes and leaned back some in the chair. The constant beep of the heart monitor telling him she was still alive. He still held onto her hand as sleep took over, he needed the sleep.

Opening his eyes, Tony realized he had only been asleep for about an hour. Pepper's hand had fallen from his grasp, but it was still next to his. Shifting in his seat some, he tried to move his shoulder around, however, sleeping in the chair like that made it stiff. Standing up so he could stretch some, he noticed Pepper's eyelids dancing. He wondered what was stopping her from waking up.

Looking at her some more, he could see the bruise on her cheek from where she was slapped by Hammer. It was now faint, but it was still there. Watching her sleep, he desperately wanted her to wake up, but he knew patience was key.

Some nurses made their rounds, checking Pepper's vitals and making sure Tony was alright. He was fine, but he really wanted to look into Pepper's blue eyes, so she knew how sorry he was for all of this.

Sitting in the chair again, he started to go through his phone. He had been avoiding phone calls like the plague. He didn't feel like talking to anyone about what happened. All Tony knew, was SHIELD was going to take care of the details of the incident. As of right now, she had been involved in a car accident, any other details were still being worked out.

Looking through his phone, he looked at message after message, not wanting to reply to any of them.

"Tony," the voice was soft, but it cut the silence in the room.

He thought he was dreaming, hearing her voice.

"Tony," she spoke again, her voice now a whisper. Tony straightened up in his seat and could tell she was waking up. He stood up and carefully took her hand. He didn't want to startle her.

"I'm right here Pepper," he said to her quietly. Watching her eyes flutter open and closed, he knew she was still exhausted. He stayed more to the side, waiting for her to focus on her surroundings.

Pepper was overwhelmed with the feeling of pain when she woke up. She did not know her body could hurt so much. However, as she was finally able to get her eyes to focus, she could see Tony, who held her hand in his. A small smile formed across his lips.

"What happened?" She tried her hardest to speak, but her voice was hoarse, her throat was sore. She could barely speak.

"Shh, don't talk. You're going to be okay." Tony said to her, running a finger through her hair.

She looked up at him, her bottom lip trembled. Images of what happened started to playback in her head, images of her and Tony seconds before the machine exploded. The tears started to fall.

"Hey, you're okay." Tony said to her. He pulled the chair up closer to the bed. He kissed the top of her forehead before sitting back down. His hand still holding hers. "You're going to be okay. Can I get something for you?" He asked, willing to help her in anyway.

"Can I get some water?" She asked him, her words quiet and slow. It still hurt to talk.

Tony gave her a smile and stood back up, he went over to the door and grabbed a nurse. She gladly got a cup of water for him and he brought it back to Pepper. Standing over her, he helped place the straw in her mouth.

"Just take it slow," he said to her. Once she was good, he put the cup on the table next to him and took her hand once again. "How're you feeling?" He asked her, not wanting to keep her up too long. As much as he wanted to talk and apologize and just look at her, he knew she needed sleep.

"Everything hurts," she said, turning her head towards him. Her lip trembled again. "I'm sorry."

Hearing that broke Tony's heart. He never, ever wanted this to happen to her. He didn't want her to apologize.

"Don't be sorry Pepper," He stood up and looked down at her. She looked so broken and it hurt him. "This was not your fault, don't even think about blaming yourself for any of this. I am so sorry this happened to you. I never wanted this for any of you, I never wanted you to leave. I can't live without you and I wouldn't know what to do without you." Tony looked at her, he could feel tears forming in his own eyes, but he kept them back. Brushing his hand through her hair, he placed another kiss on her forehead.

"Do you really mean that?" Pepper asked him, her eyes were still red, but there were no more tears. "You didn't want me to leave?"

Tony looked directly at her, looking into her beautiful blue irises. "I never wanted you to leave and I should've stopped you."

Pepper gave a small smile and closed her eyes, she was so tired. Tony kissed her hand as he sat back down.

"Get some rest, I'll be here when you wake up." Tony said to her and leaned back into the chair. He knew it was going to take a while for her to recover, but he was ready to help her every step of the way. He owed her that. It would take a while, he was determined to make things okay again.


	15. Chapter 15

_AN: So sorry this has taken so long to update. I was having writer's block because I didn't like the original chapter I wrote. I feel like it's a bit flat. But, here's the next chapter and I thank you so much for all the nice reviews. I really appreciate it._

**Chapter Fifteen**

Pepper didn't remember falling back asleep, but when she opened her eyes, she saw Tony asleep in a chair next to her bed. He looked so peaceful, she didn't want to wake him up, but as soon as she made a slight movement, his eyes fluttered open.

"Hey, you okay?" Tony asked, his voice was raspy.

She nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why aren't you sleeping?" She asked him, her voice still soft, but a little louder than last time.

Tony smiled and looked at her. "I'm more concerned about you. How are you feeling?"

Pepper shrugged. "I've been better," she looked down at the bandages on her wrists. She then looked back up at Tony. "What happened to Hammer?" She asked. Her voice was quiet.

Tony sighed, he didn't want to tell her that Hammer was still alive, but luckily he was now in SHIELD's custody and wasn't getting out this time.

"You don't need to know about him. SHIELD is taking care of things."

Pepper nodded. She figured it was better if she didn't know.

She gave a sigh and went to reach for the water cup that was sitting on the table, wincing at how painful it was to move.

Realizing what she was doing, Tony grabbed the cup for her and stood up. "You know, you should be taking things slow," He looked at her and then at the cup. "You want to try, or do you want me to help?" He asked, referring to the cup. He was willing to help, but he would back down if she wanted to try. He knew how she was.

"I can do it myself," Pepper looked up at him. She reached her hand out some, just enough to take the cup from him. She then slowly brought it closer to her mouth, taking the straw and sipping carefully. "Thank you," she said to him once she was satisfied. She then handed the cup back to him.

The room was silent for a moment, Tony wondered what he should say to her, what could he say to her, other than I'm sorry? He turned to look at her, there was some color coming back to her cheeks.

"You keep staring at me, Tony." Pepper broke him out of his trance. He gave a small smile and went over to her. He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. "Why do you keep staring at me?" She looked at him.

"Because I am so damn happy you're alive," Tony said to her. He gave her hand a small squeeze, to reassure her. "You don't know how long I've been wanting to look into your eyes again."

She pulled her hand from his, her lips trembling and tears threatened to fall.

"Hey," Tony said, inching his way a little closer to her. "What's wrong?"

Looking up at him, her eyes watering, she didn't know what to say. Everything was just wrong. "How can you still love me after all of this?" She asked him, her voice choking on a sob. "How can you love someone who's so broken?"

Tony cupped his hands around her face, gently brushing away some of the tears. He tried to calm her some, not wanting her heart rate to get too high and send doctors rushing in here.

"You are not broken Virginia Potts," Tony said to her, using her full name. "I'm the reason you're in this mess. I should be the one lying there right now, not you. So don't you ever dare put any of this on yourself."

Pepper sat there, speechless for a moment. She was caught off guard when he called her Virginia. He had never, ever called her by her full name before. Even when they first met, it was always Pepper. She closed her eyes and let some more tears fall. Tony sat and waited a minute, he knew she needed time.

Getting up from the bed, he figured he might as well make a couple phone calls to see what was going on with the others.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," he said to her, noticing her eyes were still closed. Walking out into the hall, he closed the door behind him and walked down the corridor. He didn't know exactly where he was going, but he needed a few minutes to himself too.

Grabbing his phone, he dialed a number that was starting to become too familiar for his taste. Waiting while the phone rang, he leaned his body against a wall. His shoulder still ached, but he didn't care. There were worse things that had happened to him.

"Stark, thought we'd never hear from you," the agent had answered the phone in a somewhat joking tone. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Coulson, I just need to know what is going on," Tony said. He didn't need the small talk, he wasn't in the mood.

"We've got Hammer in transit to the headquarters for initial processing before transferring back to the prison in New York. Both Fury and Hill will be escorting him back. You know, I shouldn't be telling you this Stark," Coulson said over the phone. "But Hammer wants to talk to you before he goes."

"Fuck that," Tony said into the line, he wanted to yell, but he kept it quiet. "What the hell does he want to talk about?" He asked Coulson.

"He won't tell us." Coulson told him. "He wants to talk to you and you alone."

Tony rolled his eyes and turned to look at the wall, wanting to punch a hole in the wall, but he kept his cool. "Well, I'm not leaving Pepper," he started. "Either, you're going to have to keep him until she's out of here and we're home, or you're going to have to have him teleconference with us." Tony explained. There was no way he was going to leave her alone, not now at least.

"I'll talk to Director Fury about it," Coulson said. There was a slight pause before he spoke again. "By the way, how is she?"

Tony couldn't help but let out a small smile, Coulson was good friends with Pepper. He could remember after the battle in New York, when he had to tell her Coulson 'died', she was heartbroken for days. She had lost a dear friend.

"She's in a lot of pain, but she's alright." Tony said to him. "I mean, for right now, I think she'll be okay." He said. He then ended the call and went to punch the wall, but he stopped. This was how Hammer played his little game. The more upset he got thinking about Hammer, the more Hammer won. Tony took a breath and made his way back to Pepper's hospital room.

Before he walked back in, Tony noticed the doctor's were talking with Pepper. He was going to wait outside, to give her some privacy while they were talking. However, Tony was eager to hear what the doctor had to say. Giving a light knock on the door, he opened it up slowly and looked at the two in the room.

"Is it alright if I come in?" Tony asked, giving Pepper a small smile. She gave him a slight smile back.

"Mr. Stark, I was just telling Miss Potts here that she's going to make a full recovery." The doctor said to him. "The surgery went well and she should be up again in a few days, once we get her moving around and feeling better." The doctor looked back down at Pepper. "So get some sleep and keep drinking water. Maybe we'l get some food in here for you."

Pepper gave a slight nod and thanked the doctor when he left. Tony sat down in the chair and looked at her. She seemed to be okay, but he couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking.

"Tony," her voice broke him from his trance, he looked up at her and gave a smile. "I'm sorry." She said to him.

Tony sighed and sat back on the edge of her bed again.

"Pepper, you have to quit saying that. None of this is your fault. Why are you apologizing to me?" He looked at her, taking her hand in his.

"I shouldn't have left your house that morning," she said, her voice low and there was no emotion coming from her. "There was some type of premonition that something was going to happen. I swear I could feel it when I was driving." Pepper then looked up at him. "Are things going to be okay, between us?"

That question scared him, a lot.

"I don't want things to be different. I want to be here for you now, like you have always been there for me all these years." He traced his thumb along her hand, trying to make her feel as comfortable as he possibly could. "Are you alright?" He asked, noticing her face scrunch up in pain.

"I'll be fine," she said to him. Pepper shifted some and looked at him, right into his chocolate brown eyes. "Will you stay again tonight?" She asked, giving the slightest of smiles.

Tony smiled and lifted her hand to his mouth, placing a light kiss there. "Of course I will." He said to her. "I'll stay as long as you want me to."

He then noticed she had moved closer to one of the sides of the bed, making room for him to sit next to her. No wonder she was hurting. Pepper used her free hand to pat the spot next to her. "Will you lay with me?" She asked him. Tony smiled and carefully made his way next to her. He tried his hardest not to mess with the IVs and other wires that were attached to her. He knew the doctors would hate him for this, but he didn't care. She was the one who had asked him to sit next to her and he was going to take up her offer.

Once she knew he was situated, Pepper closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder. She wouldn't say it, but it was much more comfortable with his presence next to her.

"Tony," she spoke softly.

"Yeah Pep?" Tony looked down at her, smiling that she was next to him and he still had his hand holding hers.

"I love you," she said, her voice quiet as sleep took over.

Tony squeezed her hand, "I love you too." He said to her, placing a kiss on her forehead. He could feel her breathing against him and he smiled. He then closed his eyes and let sleep take over his body.


	16. Chapter 16

_AN: Thought I'd try and get the next chapter out a little faster this time. There's not much left to this story, only a few chapters left, I think. But I may write more stories in the future. Let me know if I should write more. I appreciate the fact that you all read this. Thank you so much._

**Chapter Sixteen**

It was the day before she was allowed to go home and Pepper had been napping. Tony sat in the chair next to her, looking through some emails on his phone. A knock on the door broke him from his trance. He looked over at Pepper, who stirred a little. Getting up from the chair, Tony went over to the door to see who was there.

As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by a bouquet of flowers in his face.

"Stark," Steve spoke from behind the flowers. "We're here to see how Miss Potts is doing."

Tony pulled Steve's arm down so he could move the flowers from his view. Standing next to Steve was Natasha and Coulson.

"She's asleep right now. We're going home tomorrow. Can't you just come then?" Tony quipped back, his voice quiet so he wouldn't wake her.

"Tony, who's there?" He could hear Pepper call from her bed. He turned to look back at her. She was awake now.

"Okay, don't get mad now," Tony started. "There's a few people here to see you." He said. He still never had the chance to tell Pepper about Coulson. He opened the door so the others could come in.

Pepper gave a small smile seeing Steve with flowers. She didn't expect them to come see her. "I look terrible," she said and ran a hand through her hair.

"You look fine Miss Potts, how are you feeling?" Natasha asked walking over closer to the bed. Pepper shrugged and covered her mouth, stifling a yawn.

"I've been better," Pepper said to her. She then looked up and froze. Tony noticed her face go white and followed her gaze over to Coulson, who was standing back by the door.

"Tony," her voice was shaky, like she had just seen a ghost. Which, in her defense, Coulson was technically still a ghost.

"Pepper, I should've told you as soon as I found out," Tony stated. He remembered telling her of her friend's 'death' after the battle in New York. She had been heartbroken for days, she had lost a friend.

She looked at Tony, giving him a cold stare, but she wasn't going to be mad at him. She'd talk to him about that later.

"You're looking better, Miss Potts." Coulson spoke, not coming too close, giving her space.

"You're not dead," was all she managed to say.

"Neither are you," Coulson said back.

Pepper gave a small smile and looked at the others in the room.

"So Phil, how's that cellist?" Pepper asked, the awkwardness of the conversation disappearing. She wasn't expecting any of them to come visit. "You really didn't have to come see me," she said sheepishly.

They all gave a laugh, and Pepper smiled a bit. Tony smiled when he saw the look on her face. It was nice to see a smile, even if it was barely there.

They all talked for a while, up to the point where Pepper was physically falling asleep in front of them. The said their goodbyes and Tony escorted them out. Sitting back in the chair next to her bed, Tony looked up at Pepper. Her eyes were closed and he thought she was asleep.

"Don't think I haven't forgotten the fact you never told me about Coulson," she said to him quietly, before sleep took over her body. Tony gave a smile, closing his eyes and getting a nap in himself. He realized they got to go home tomorrow.

* * *

It seemed like they'd never get to go home. Pepper was in the hospital for days before she was finally released, with a good bill of health. After getting back to Malibu, the two were finally able to go home and work on taking things one step at a time. Tony was willing to help Pepper in whatever way he could.

Tony walked through the front door first, triple-checking that there weren't any threats in the house that would hurt Pepper. He was determined to keep her safe from everything. He wouldn't let anything hurt her anymore.

Once it was clear, Tony took Pepper's hand and helped her into the house. She had been released from the hospital, but was told she was to stay away from any stress for the next few weeks so she could finish recovering.

Staying silent, Pepper walked in behind Tony. She winced, her body still sore from surgery. Tony offered her to help her to the bedroom, but Pepper shook her head.

"Pep, you should really-" Tony was cut off.

"Tony, will you just sit with me?" She asked, her voice soft. She didn't want to argue with him. Staying silent, Tony nodded and helped her over to the couch.

Pepper sat on the couch, placing some pillows to help her get comfortable. Tony then sat next to her, wrapping a blanket around her first.

The two were silent for a while. Tony pulled Pepper in closer, he had some tears forming in his eyes, but he wouldn't cry. He didn't want her to see how weak he was.

"Tony," Pepper looked up at him. He looked down and was embarrassed of the tears that were in his eyes. "I'm sorry." She said.

"No, don't be," Tony looked down at her. He carefully turned Pepper so he could place her on his lap, blanket still around her. "You have to stop saying that. Why would you be sorry?" He asked as he tried to make her comfortable.

But Pepper didn't reply, instead she buried her head into Tony's chest, running her finger along the outline of his reactor, and began to sob. Tony kissed the top of her forehead.

Holding her close while she cried, Tony ran his hand up and down her back, trying to calm her down some. But, he gave her all the time she needed, knowing she hadn't had a chance to let everything sink in just yet.

Before he knew it, her breathing had slowed and she wasn't crying anymore. She had fallen asleep. Carefully getting off of the couch, with Pepper in his arms, Tony carried her into the bedroom, placing her on the bed and let her sleep off the wear of the hospital stay.

Placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, he quietly walked out of the room and was going to head down to his workshop, but he instead went into the kitchen to get himself some water and just think to himself.

Except, Tony thought it was too quiet and got bored and went back to the bedroom, getting into bed next to Pepper. However, he didn't sleep. He just sat next to her and waited. He had missed her so much.

Tony watched how peaceful Pepper looked when she was asleep. It wasn't long before he fell asleep just watching her.

* * *

"Stop it, don't touch me," the sound of Pepper's voice instantly woke Tony up. He looked at her and realized she was still asleep. "Stop, Hammer, stop," Pepper was pleading. The expression on her face, looking like she was scared.

Being careful, Tony sat up in bed and tried his hardest to wake Pepper up from her nightmare, carefully trying to pull her in closer to comfort her, but as soon as he moved her, her eyes opened.

She screamed, startled by his actions, but not being fully awake to see it was Tony, she couldn't comprehend it was only him. He backed off, letting her have some space to breath for a moment.

"Pepper, you're okay," he quietly said to her. Watching tears fall from her eyes as she tried to continue waking up. He ran his finger through her hair. "You're okay," he repeated.

"Tony?" She blinked a few times to focus on what she was looking at. "Tony," she said a little quieter. Her body calming down some, but she was still crying.

"It's alright," he said and now pulled her closer to him. Tony could feel her body shaking and he felt terrible about what was happening. He could hear her try to speak, but choking on sobs instead. "Shh, you're alright now."

He then lay down on his back, pulling her up so she was on his chest. Running his hand up and down her back, trying to calm her down. She was having some sort of panic attack.

Pepper closed her eyes and took in deep breaths. She knew this was the first time he was actually witnessing her having a nightmare that lately plagued her sleep. This was embarrassing to her. She didn't want him to think she was weak. She was supposed to be a headstrong CEO, not someone so broken she was being cared for like a child.

"Tony," she said quietly, turning her head to look at him. "How did I get in here?" She asked, realizing they were in the bedroom.

"I carried you in here…" Tony looked at the clock, she hadn't been asleep for long. "An hour ago. You needed sleep and I figured this was more comfortable." He said and now traced circles on her back with his thumb. Making her feel as home as she possibly could.

"Oh," Pepper looked up at him. "Did I wake you up?" She asked softly, she didn't mean to.

"You were having a nightmare." Tony told her. Pepper looked at him, embarrassed. "Can you tell me what happened?" He asked her. Pepper looked away. She didn't want to bring him into this mess.

"You don't need to hear it," She said softly. She then felt him kiss the top of her head.

"Yes I do. I need to hear it all. I want you to tell me," He told her. He wanted her to know that he was willing to listen. She was always there for him and now it was his turn.

Pepper took a deep breath and let the words flow from her mouth.

"They injected something in me right when it happened. I had no idea what was happening and I really don't know what happened after that. I had been in the car, then I woke up in that room, tied to a chair." As Pepper told him everything that happened to her, Tony reassured her that everything would be okay now.

"Hammer was erratic, his mood changed all the time. It was like he was being controlled by something or someone. It was horrible. He touched me and I wanted to hurt him. He'd call me honey and I wanted to puke." Her voice was vile, "I didn't know what to do. I felt like I was going to die." She stopped, some tears falling from her eyes again.

Tony closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head again. He felt terrible that she had to go through that. She never deserved any of it.

Feeling her calm down some, he gently placed her back on the bed, right next to him. He turned to look at her and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"It's alright, you don't have to tell me anymore right now," He said, looking at her. "Just get some sleep for me, please?"

Pepper took his hand and closed her eyes. She didn't want to fall back asleep, she didn't want anymore nightmares, but eventually sleep took over. And she was alright, knowing Tony was right there next to her.


	17. Chapter 17

_AN: I owe everyone who reads this an apology for such a late update. I've been having a hard time trying to find inspiration lately. I appreciate all the kind reviews. There's three more chapters left. I don't know if I'm going to post anything new... Thank you all for the support and enjoy this chapter._

**Chapter Seventeen**

After that whole ordeal, the two slept through the rest of the day and all through the night. It seemed the lack of sleep had really affected them. It was early the next morning when Pepper's eyes fluttered open. Although she slept through the entire night without any other nightmares, she was still exhausted.

Still next to Tony, she turned her head to look out the window. Her whole body ached and she was still thinking about what had happened last night. She wondered what he thought of her. Tony had never witnessed her having a nightmare of that degree before. She then turned to look back at Tony, still asleep.

Pepper wondered if what he had said to her back at the hospital was really true, not wanting her to leave. She turned away again, tears in her eyes. This was not how she wanted this to go. She only wanted a few days away, just to clear her mind.

Tony could feel Pepper moving around in the bed. Opening his eyes, he could see that she was turned the other way. He then ran his finger through her hair, trying to get her attention.

Pepper turned back to him and looked at him. "Hi," she said, her voice was hoarse.

Tony smiled. He was so glad she was here.

"Hey," He said and took her hand. "How're you feeling?"

She sighed and made her way closer to him, leaning her head against his chest. The light from the reactor familiar to her and its quiet hum giving her the comfort of home.

"My body hurts," she said quietly. "A lot."

He knew exactly how she felt. Waking up in Afghanistan with a car battery attached to his chest, still brought back painful memories. Tony then saw her eyes, glistening with tears. He held her closer and ran his hand up and down her back.

"I didn't mean to wake you up last night." Pepper looked at him. She felt ashamed that he had to see that.

"It's okay." Tony looked at her. "I don't want you to go through this alone, like I did." He said. Pepper looked up at him, wondering what he meant. Then she thought about it, all that time after Afghanistan.

"Were the nightmares bad?" She asked him quietly.

He sat up some, but still keeping her close, so her head was resting against his leg. He had never really talked to her about the nightmares that he had after he got back from Afghanistan. He hadn't exposed her to the problems, he never thought he'd have to.

"At first they were," he started. "They were absolutely terrifying. Flashbacks of explosions, soldiers getting killed right in front of my very eyes," he continued. "Then they became painful, like I could feel my chest being ripped apart all over again, this reactor being put in." His voice got quieter. "They aren't something I like to think about."

Pepper was silent as she listened to him talk about the nightmares he had. She never thought they were that bad because he was always working on something and being Iron Man. She then realized it was most likely his way of shutting down and coping with it.

"You know, when I was trapped in that cave, I could hear you," He looked down at her, but her gaze stayed forward, trying to understand. "I could hear you call out to me while I was sleeping, or when I was focused on trying to get out."

Pepper's breathing started to pick up as she tried her hardest not to cry, she didn't want to cry again. She took a fistful of the material of his Tony's pajama pants and turned to look up at him. The tears that had been lingering now fell, streaking her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He looked down at her, running a hand through her hair.

"Why?" She asked him, choking on tears at the same time. "Why wouldn't you tell me that before?"

Tony shrugged, he didn't really know. "I didn't want you to worry about me, I could take care of myself." He spoke to her, carefully pulling her up and wrapped his arms around her. "Please, stop crying Pep, everything's going to be okay."

A sharp pain made its way through her body, making her tense up. Tony could sense it and loosened his arms around her some.

"I need the medicine the doctor gave me," she said to him. Carefully laying her back on the bed, Tony got up and rummaged through one of her bags to find the pill bottle. Once he found it, he tossed it on the bed and went to grab a glass of water.

Pepper wrapped her arms around her stomach and tried her hardest to stop the pain. Tony walked back into the room and made his way back onto the bed. Handing her the water, he then opened the pill bottle and handed her two of the little caplets.

She took back the pills with the water and handed the glass back to him. Pepper then lay back on the bed and looked up at him. "Thank you," she said to him quietly. Her body began to relax some and she calmed some.

Tony gave her a smile and ran his hand up and down her arm some.

"You alright?" He asked her softly.

She shook her head, she still felt terrible.

"What can I do for you?" He asked her. It was his turn to take care of her, like she had always done for him. Tony ran his hand through her hair.

"I'm a little hungry," she said quietly. Looking up at him, she tried her hardest to give a small smile. When he saw her smile, Tony couldn't help but smile and lean down to kiss her forehead. This was progress.

Getting up from the bed, Tony turned and looked at her. She looked so frail. Pepper was about to follow him when he made a face and shook his head. Looking at him, she didn't know what he was about to do until he scooped her up and carried her into the living room.

Placing her on the couch, Tony grabbed a blanket and handed it to her, giving a smile.

"There, that's more comfortable, right?" He looked at her and sat on the armrest. "Now, I know I'm not the best cook in the world, but, I can make soup. I have some in the cupboard, so I'll go make it right now."

Pepper nodded and watched him go into the kitchen. She shifted herself some, trying to make herself more comfortable. Sitting up, she leaned against the back of the couch and wrapped the blanket around her more. Waiting for Tony, she closed her eyes and tried her hardest not to think of what happened.

In the kitchen, Tony looked at the package of soup, carefully reading over the directions, making sure he made it right. It was honestly one of the only things he could make. Boiling the water, he poured in the soup mix and let it simmer and cook. Once it was ready, he ladled some into two soup mugs and went back into the living room.

Noticing her eyes were closed, he placed the mugs on the table and carefully sat next to her. Not knowing if she was asleep, he was just going to wrap his arm around her and let her sleep, when her eyes opened.

"You can sleep, really. It's okay, you don't have to force yourself to stay up." Tony looked at her. Pepper shook her head.

"I just closed my eyes, that's all." Pepper said to him. She could smell the soup from over on the table and her stomach immediately growled in hunger. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten.

Hearing her stomach growl, Tony smiled. Grabbing the soup mugs from the table, he handed one to her. "Just, don't over do yourself." He said to her. She shot him a look, but thanked him for the mug.

She was silent while she ate, nothing seemed to have a taste, but that didn't stop her from eating. Once she was done, Pepper placed the mug back on the table and leaned back into the couch. Tony looked at her and noticed she looked sad. Which, he couldn't blame her.

He pulled her in closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. Tony tried his hardest to make her feel more comfortable and willing to talk. Pepper was silent, not looking at him, instead, looking up at the ceiling. Things were just flying through her mind and she wanted to talk about it all, but she didn't know how.

Closing her eyes, she could feel her eyes tear up again. She was sick of crying, but it wouldn't stop. Tony looked at her and ran his hand up and down her arm, trying to make her relax some.

"I know you don't want to talk and I don't blame you," he said to her. "I know I never talked to anyone after what happened in Afghanistan. But I want you to feel comfortable talking to me. I want you to get better and not end up like me. Don't make me take the alcohol out of this house." He said to her in a playful tone, but was still serious with his statement.

"Just give me a day," Pepper said to him quietly. "But for now, will you just stay here with me, please?" She asked and shifted herself some so she was more comfortable laying on the couch with him.

"Of course," Tony said and kissed her forehead. "Anything for you." He held Pepper in his arms and waited for her to fall asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

_AN: Here's the next chapter. Thank you for the wonderful comments, it means a lot to me. Only two more chapters left. _

**Chapter Eighteen**

_Terror in Manhattan'. That was the headline all over the news on TV. Pepper was in the Stark Jet flying back from DC, however, she had been informed by the pilot that they had to detour away from the city because of what was happening._

_ But Pepper didn't care what he had to say. Her eyes were glued to the TV the instant she had heard all the commotion that was happening where Tony was. What made things worse was the fact the latest story about what was happening. There was a missile-like object headed right for the city, and Iron Man was guiding it away._

_ …_

_ 'Sir, shall I try Miss Potts?" JARVIS asked._

_ Tony, who was holding a nuclear missile in his arms, wasn't thinking about it._

_ "Might as well," He told the AI as he made his way to the portal._

_ "Stark, this is a one way trip." Steve had said minutes earlier. This wasn't something he didn't already know. However, it wasn't the way he wanted this to end._

_ …_

_ Pepper watched the coverage of the disaster on TV. She was worried sick about what was happening. Tony, all those innocent people. the other Avengers, it was all too real. She was so engrossed in what was happening on TV, she didn't see her cell phone ringing._

_ …_

_ The last thing Tony saw as he went through the portal was 'Call Failed' before everything went black. He had done his job. People were saved, he knew Pepper would be proud of him either way. He thought about what his future with Pepper would've looked like, as he fell from the portal._

She had been struggling. Pepper didn't even know what he had thought about as Tony fell from the sky. However, her mind kept bringing her back to that damn missed phone call. She couldn't understand why it was such a big deal, Tony was safe and here with her, but she could only think about what might of happened if he didn't make it back from that battle in Manhattan.

The nightmares then progressed to the events of the past week, complete with Hammer's antics and no one to save her this time.

Tony could hear her mumbling, he wondered what she was dreaming about. However, he looked at Pepper and could see a pained expression on her face. He then ran his hand through her hair, then down her arm, trying to make her relax and sleep in peace.

"Tony," she cried in agony, still in the middle of a nightmare.

"Pepper, you're okay," Tony said to her quietly, not wanting her to scream or anything. As soon as her eyes fluttered open, she let out a sob and tears fell. "You're okay," Tony said and ran his hand up and down her back, just as he had the night before.

She was still next to Tony, only this time she was back in bed. She didn't remember actually falling asleep. All she could remember was asking Tony to stay with her.

"Not again," she cried and looked up at him. Her body was shaking. These nightmares needed to stop.

Tony could feel Pepper's body shaking and held her close. This wasn't getting any easier. "Hey, you're alright." He said to her. "What happened this time?" He asked her. Wanting to know what happened so he could try and help her stop these nightmares.

"It was that damn phone call again," she started. "So you weren't there to save me from Hammer." Pepper looked up at him. Tony pulled her in close. "This is getting worse."

Tony knew there had to be some repercussion to what had happened after New York. He remembered coming back after the fight and telling her things would be okay. She played it off like a champ, but he should've known something was up.

"You don't have to worry about it anymore," He said as he pulled her closer into his chest. Pepper traced the outline of his reactor, its faint blue glow calmed her some. "Now, please go back to sleep. You aren't getting enough."

Pepper then looked up at him. She didn't want to fall asleep. Every time she fell asleep, the more she had nightmares.

However, just as she closed her eyes again, JARVIS came on.

_Sir, Agent Coulson is on the property. He's looking to talk to you._

Tony made a face. He desperately wanted to be next to Pepper so she could sleep, but he knew this was a business call. He sat up and looked at Pepper, "I'll be right back. Close your eyes, please." He kissed her cheek and got out of bed.

Pepper turned over to her side, wincing in pain. Looking at the clock, it was only three in the afternoon. Her sleep schedule was so messed up. Wondering what Tony was talking to Coulson about. Carefully getting out of bed, she went into the bathroom to change the bandage over her scar before going into the living room.

In the living room, Tony was talking with the agent. He remembered Hammer wanted to talk to him before SHIELD transferred him back to his prison cell in New York.

"He wants to talk to you Stark. We're supposed to transfer him over to the East Coast in a few hours, but he won't go until he talks to you." Coulson explained.

"Who wants to talk to Tony?" Pepper's voice came into the room. Tony sighed, he wanted her to be sleeping right now. When Coulson told her it was Hammer who wanted to talk to him, she gave him a look before looking at the ground.

Tony knew he shouldn't go, for Pepper's sake, but he figured there had to be a reason.

"Why does he want to talk to me?" Tony looked at Coulson.

"We don't know, he won't talk to us." Coulson said to him. "It's the one thing he wants before going back to New York."

"I'll go, but not without your permission, Pepper?" Tony was still looking at her. She looked up at him.

"I want to go too." Pepper said to him.

"Pep," Tony looked at her, but she continued to talk.

"I want to go, Tony. I want to hear what he has to say." She told him. "Don't I at least deserve some kind of explanation?" She asked.

"Can the lady come too, Coulson?" Tony looked at the agent.

"I don't see why not." He looked at the two. "I'll be in the car, come when you're ready." He told them. Once he closed the door behind him, Tony looked at Pepper, who was talking back to the bedroom.

"Why do you want to put yourself through this?" He asked her. Tony wasn't angry, but he wanted to know why.

"I want to know why he did what he did. There had to be purpose for all of this and I want to know why." She told him as she put on cleaner, more comfortable clothes. Normally, she would never leave the house looking like this, but she was just following the doctor's orders.

"You know, as much as I don't want you to do this, it may actually help." Tony said as he helped Pepper with her coat.

Pepper looked at him and smiled. "Thank you," She gave him a peck on the cheek. The two headed out the door and into Coulson's unmarked SHEILD sedan.


	19. Chapter 19

_AN: Alright my fellow readers, there's only one chapter left after this. I want to thank everyone for the kind reviews, it really means a lot to me because I was never going to publish this story in the first place. I don't know if there'll be anything else after this. But thank you all so much and enjoy._

**Chapter Nineteen**

The drive wasn't long from the Malibu mansion to the subtly hidden SHIELD headquarters. Both Tony and Pepper were anxious to know what Hammer wanted to talk about.

Once they arrived at headquarters, Tony helped Pepper out of the car and the two followed Coulson into the building and down a long hallway. Pepper knew they must've been near where Hammer was being kept, because there were more agents in the general vicinity.

"Mr. Stark, Miss Potts, thank you for coming." Agent Hill met Coulson at the door.

"What does he want to talk about Hill?" Tony asked the agent.

"We have no idea Mr. Stark, he wouldn't tell anyone but you." She looked at him. "Behind these doors leads to the interrogation rooms. Director Fury is there waiting for you," Hill then looked at Pepper. "Miss Potts, you can follow Agent Coulson and I to watch from behind the glass."

Pepper looked at Tony, she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and told him she'd be fine. Opening the door, Hill led them down the hall to where Fury was standing.

"Stark, you ready?" Fury asked him.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Tony told him. Pepper followed Coulson and Hill into the adjacent room.

In the room, Pepper could see Hammer, handcuffed to the table, his ankles bound so he could not move. He looked worse than he had when she saw him. Coulson offered her a chair to sit in, she thanked him and sat in the chair, watching Tony walk into the room with Fury.

"Okay Hammer, look who came to see you goodbye." Fury said. Hammer looked up and smiled, he had scars on his face from the explosion, but other minimal damage.

"Tony Stark. In the flesh. How have you been?" Hammer's sarcasm was through the roof and Tony wasn't taking any of it.

"What do you want Hammer? You should be getting on a plane soon, back to your prison cell." Tony looked at the madman.

"How's Princess doing?" Hammer asked. Tony knew exactly what he was referring to. "I hear she's making a good recovery." He looked at the mirror behind Tony, like he knew Pepper was watching from another room.

Pepper shifted in her seat, uncomfortably. Hammer's gaze made her nervous.

"I'm not here to talk about her and you don't need to know about her. Now why am I here?" Tony was adamant.

"I wanted to tell you why I did what I did. What the purpose of this whole failed plan was supposed to entail." Hammer looked at Tony.

This was something Tony didn't want to hear, but it wasn't all for him either, some of it was for Pepper's ears too. However, Tony didn't want her to hear it either, but he couldn't stop her.

"I'm listening," Tony looked across at Hammer.

"Everything you ever loved right in the middle of danger. It's safe to say that Miss Potts has already been through it all. Your first battle in the suit, the Stark Expo, New York. It was only a matter of time this would take it's toll on her." Hammer started. "So, I planned this out perfectly. I had someone come around your workplace and your home to examine your relationship, then when it was time, I jumped for the opportunity."

Tony knew Hammer was bluffing, but there was a part of him that wondered if he really meant it. At this point, he was unsure about a lot of what Hammer could've done.

"I know how much she means to you Stark, evidently she's still your rock. So I decided that in order to get what I want, I should stab you where it hurts the most. Right in the heart." Hammer looked at Tony. "Too bad I didn't get my way with her. I'm sure she's quite… fun."

Pepper listened to Hammer talk, her hand covering her mouth when she heard Hammer's plans for her. She couldn't listen anymore, she wanted to kill Hammer herself. She wondered how Tony was keeping his composure so well.

"You're a sick bastard, you understand that Hammer, you are sick." Tony was trying his hardest not to lose it. And he wasn't going to lose it, Hammer wasn't worth his time and anger anymore.

"Yeah, well obviously my plan didn't work. So you and your girl can go live your precious lives together, but now you'll always have something to remember the pain. How is she again? I told her I was coming back."

Tony stood up, "We're done here. Hope you rot in hell."

"All I wanted was your technology Stark," Hammer yelled as Tony walked away. "You have everything. Money, power, Iron Man, and the girl. I just wanted some of that." He now sounded like a child, pleading for attention.

Tony ignored Hammer while he was leaving the room. It just wasn't worth it anymore. In the viewing room, Coulson turned the sound off and closed the blinds so Pepper didn't have to see him anymore.

Fury and Tony walked in a few seconds later and looked at them.

"Hill, you can arrange the transfer now. He's done here." Fury told the agent.

Tony walked over to Pepper, who was still sitting in the chair. Her body ached and she didn't want to get up. He knelt down in front her and gently took her hand.

"You don't have to worry anymore." He looked up at her. "You alright?"

Pepper looked at him and nodded. Tony stood back up and held his hand out for Pepper to take as she slowly stood up.

"I'll drive them home sir," Coulson told Fury.

Pepper and Tony followed Coulson out of the building and back into the sedan. They were silent on the way home, but Pepper held onto Tony's hand.

Once home, Tony helped Pepper out of the car and walked her back inside, but not before watching Coulson drive away.

Inside, Pepper stripped off her jacket and dropped it to the floor, she was too tired to even do anything. She heard Tony tell JARVIS to secure the house.

"So," Tony looked at her. She looked vulnerable and all he wanted to do was hold her until she was better. "Are you okay?"

Pepper looked at him, she wanted to be okay, but she really wasn't. "I think I'm going to lay down," She told him, trying to avoid his question. She just needed some time to think a little.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" He asked her, but Pepper shook her head. He gave a sigh and shrugged. "Alright, I'll be downstairs for a few. Have JARVIS call if you need me." Tony looked at her, she had a look in her eyes that she still wanted to talk, but she turned and walked the other way.

Pepper walked into the bedroom and peeled off the clothes she was wearing. After hearing what Hammer wanted to do with her, she felt violated. Grabbing some clean pajamas, she went into the bathroom to look at the scar that was still healing.

Gently running her finger over the mark, she winced at how tender it still was. Pepper then applied some cream and put on a new bandage. She then pulled on the clean pair of clothes and went back into the room and lay on the bed. She wanted to talk, but she had no words. Closing her eyes, Pepper waited for Tony. There was no way she was falling asleep without him next to her.

Downstairs in his lab, Tony looked at the file Fury had given him about Hammer when Pepper had first been abducted. He grabbed the file from his desk and walked over to the other side of the room. He decided to file the folder in the safe where no one would ever need to see it again.

Once he finished locking up the file, Tony decided there was no work to be done and headed back upstairs and into his room. Quietly walking inside, he could see Pepper on the bed, with her eyes closed. Thinking she was asleep, he quietly made his way over to the bathroom, grabbing a pair of pajamas on the way. Quickly changing, he then made his way over to the bed and got close enough to Pepper, trying not to wake her.

"I'm not asleep," she spoke softly. Her eyes opened and she looked at him. Tony gave a slight smile and pulled her up close to him. "I don't even know what to think." She said to him.

"It's okay, you don't have to think anything." He looked at her. "In fact, let's just not think about him anymore. Let's not dwell on the past. Let's think about the future."

"I can't just forget about the past, Tony." She looked at him. "I have to accept the fact it happened and how I never want it to happen again."

"You're right," Tony thought about it. It wouldn't help to just let it go. They needed to talk about it. This was one of things that pushed them apart in some ways. "Pepper, I'll be here for you whenever you want to talk about it. I don't care if it's while you're at work or if it's three in the morning. You can talk and I'll listen to every word you say."

Pepper closed her eyes and nodded. She wanted to cry, but she had absolutely no more tears to shed. Which wasn't a bad thing. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked up at Tony, directly into his big brown eyes. She leaned in closer, giving him a kiss.

But this wasn't just any kiss, no. This was meaningful, from her heart. Feelings that she hadn't felt before, now coming to the surface. It was something that made her love for him stronger. Sure, she had kissed him before, they were obviously in a relationship, but something made this much more special. She wondered if it was the fact he was actually giving her the time and day, something he had never really done before.

Once she broke herself from his lips, she looked back up at him.

"I owe you a story," she said to him. Tony gave her a look, he wasn't exactly sure what she meant, but then he realized she had yet to tell him about her ordeal, from her perspective. He nodded and held her closer, willing to listen.

"I didn't think I was going to make it out of there alive," she started, then continued to relay what had happened. Tony listened while she continued to talk about what Hammer did and how she witnessed a murder. He was sickened by the thought that she went through it all. But now he hoped she'd recover.

As soon as she was done talking, which seemed like it took forever, she closed her eyes, but opened them again, trying her hardest to not fall asleep. Tony could see the sleep forming on her eyes, wanting her to sleep.

"Close your eyes," He spoke softly and kissed the top of her head. "I'm right here, no need to worry." Tony held her close and as she closed her eyes again, he could feel her body starting to relax. "I love you Virginia Potts," he whispered before sleep took over both their bodies.

For the first time since coming home, Pepper Potts did not have a nightmare that night.


	20. Chapter 20

_AN: Alright, this is it, the last chapter. I thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews and giving me the courage to post this story. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. I don't know if I'm going to write anything after this, but I'll take some suggestions. I hope you all enjoy and I thank you all again. I love you all._

**Chapter Twenty**

Pepper awoke with a start. She looked around and realized she was safe and in bed next to Tony. Turning her head, she saw the clock read almost ten in the morning. For a change, she had actually slept through the entire night. She then felt Tony stir next to her.

His eyes fluttered open and tried to focus in the semi-lit room. Turning to his side, Tony could see Pepper lying awake next to him.

"Hey, you okay?" Tony asked her. She nodded her head and smiled at him.

"You know, I actually feel okay today." Pepper told him. She traced the outline of his arc reactor and noticed a certain look on his face. "Are you okay?"

Tony smiled, "I'm okay if you're okay. No nightmares last night?" He asked her. Pepper shook her head.

"No nightmares," She said. "Just pleasant dreaming."

They both smiled. Not wanting to get up, Tony made his way closer to Pepper, pulling her into his chest and kissed the top of her forehead.

The two just lay there, no care for the outside world. It was much more comfortable in the bed.

"Can we just stay here all day?" Tony asked, looking down at her with a smile. However, as if right on cue, his stomach growled in protest of hunger. The two laughed, but remained in bed just a little longer. Tony pulled her in for a hug and squeezed her tight, a silent message telling her that he would never leave her side. Then, both their stomach's growled in protest.

Sitting up, Pepper sighed and waited a second before getting out of bed and heading into the bathroom. She needed to take the bandage off the scar for a little bit.

While she was in the bathroom, Tony got out of bed and went into the kitchen and started making coffee. He leaned against the island counter and waited for Pepper to come back out. He was happy that they were actually able to have a full night's sleep and he was even happier that she didn't have any nightmares.

Finishing up, Pepper walked out of the bathroom and noticed Tony wasn't in bed anymore. She then went out of the room and found him in the kitchen. Giving Tony a smile, she shook her head when he offered her some coffee.

"No, I can't have coffee yet," she said and went over to the fridge and took out the cranberry juice. "I can only drink this or water right now." She said and made a face. She hated the taste of the tart juice. She then looked out the window, a small thought forming in her mind.

"Suit yourself," he said and poured the mug for himself. Once he was set, Tony then leaned back against the counter like he had before and looked over at Pepper. "Something on your mind?"

Pepper turned and looked at him, she shook her head, but then shrugged.

"I don't know, I was just thinking." She said and put her glass on the counter, however she missed and the glass fell to the ground, shattering upon impact. "Shoot," Pepper looked at the spilled contents on the floor. "Everything is still out of sorts."

Tony walked over to her, carefully avoiding the broken glass and picked her up, carrying her to the living room. "It's okay if everything's still messed up." He said and placed her down on the couch and sat next to her.

"It's just, I don't want to avoid it, but I don't know how to talk about it." Pepper looked at him with a gaze that was empty. Tony knew how she felt, he had gone through this before, however, he never really talked about it with anyone. Especially not Pepper.

"It's alright, you don't have to talk about it all now." Tony looked at her. "I mean, some things are easier to talk about than others. But only when you're ready. I'll be here anyway."

Pepper looked at him and shrugged. She didn't want to ruin a day that started out perfectly wonderful, but now she felt it was already falling apart.

"I just want to forget, and I can't. I can't stop thinking about it." She looked at him. "Last night was the first time I actually slept in peace."

Tony smiled and watched as she leaned back onto a pillow, now looking away at him.

"What's up?" He looked at Pepper, taking her hand and running his thumb along of the back of it. She turned her head back and looked at him, giving him a shrug.

"I don't know. It's just, I don't know what to think anymore." Pepper said to him.

"That's alright, really. Now, why don't I order something to eat for us?" He suggested, "Then we can just sit around here all day and do nothing."

She gave him a smile. That did sound nice. However, Tony's phone then rang. He groaned and got up to get his phone from the table.

"You have got to be kidding me," Tony said into the phone, listening to someone from the other end. "I wasn't going to come in today. Fine, I'll be there in twenty." Tony huffed and hung up. He walked back over to where she was sitting on the couch.

"What's wrong?" Pepper asked him, getting up and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"There's an investor who wants to drop out of the sustainable energy campaign," He sighed. "I have some convincing to do. I shouldn't be there for long." He said to her. Pepper gave him a smile.

"I should be the one going in," she said to him. "This is technically my job. I appreciate it."

She then walked with him into the bedroom so he could change.

"Pep, you are on administrative leave until the doctor says you're allowed to work and when you feel ready to come back," Tony told her. "Besides, I own the company, so it's also my responsibility."

Pepper smiled and gave Tony a kiss. She went back out into the living room, wrapped herself in a blanket, sat on the couch, and began to read more of her poetry book. She said goodbye to Tony as he walked out to the garage to head over to the industry.

Taking in a deep breath, Pepper sighed with content knowing the house was silent. She could now read in silence. However, as she got into her book, she realized that this wasn't what she wanted to be doing. Getting up, Pepper realized that she should've gone with Tony to talk with the investor, but she knew that her doctor wouldn't appreciate it if she started to put more stress on herself.

She then went back into the bedroom and looked at how messy it was. She noticed a lot of stuff was strewn about, wondering why everything was so messed up. She then made her way to the closet where she found her old hat box full of her past.

Pepper was curious, wondering if he had looked through all of it. This was something she never liked to talk about, with anyone. She never even talked to Tony about her family. It was something she figured she wouldn't need to do. But things were changing now.

Closing the box, she put it back in its spot and walked out of the room. She was glad he wasn't here at the moment. She didn't feel like getting into another argument with him over something so small.

Back in the living room, she stared at the piano. The one Tony replaced after breaking the first one when he was testing his new Iron Man suit. Pepper hadn't played the piano in years, but something was calling to her.

She walked over to the grand piano, sitting down at the bench. Staring at the keys, she wanted to play. Placing her hands on the keys she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Pepper played a few keys, sounding a little rusty. But the more she played, the better it sounded. Before she knew it, she was playing a song just by memory. She played and played the song she knew by heart, something her father had taught her.

Once she had finished, Pepper was thrilled. The feeling of playing after so long left her exhilarated and it felt good. She smiled and played song after song, letting the feeling take over.

* * *

Tony had only been in the office for a bit, the investor just wanted to make sure the company was still interested in their own project. So, it was a waste of time. When he came back inside, he could hear music from the living room. Curious as to what it was, he walked back in and could hear the piano playing.

He could see Pepper sitting behind the piano, playing her heart out. This was the Pepper he had learned about in after going through her stuff after she first disappeared. Hearing her play sounded like pure magic. Now if he could just hear her sing, he'd love her even more. Not that he didn't now. He continued to listen while she played, staying silent so she could finish.

As soon as she finished playing, Pepper sat and stared down at the keys for a moment. She forgot how wonderful it felt to play again. She hadn't played in years and now she felt free again. For the time being, she wasn't in pain, her body didn't ache. She had found some solace with herself.

"That was beautiful," Tony spoke softly. Pepper jumped at the sound and turned around. Her face turning red with embarrassment.

"When did you get back?" She asked, getting up from the bench a bit too fast and winced at the pain. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"Why did you stop?" Tony walked closer to her. "I had no idea you had that inside of you. Why would you stop?" He asked her. "It was beautiful."

Pepper shook her head in denial.

"No, this isn't me anymore. That part of me died a long time ago." Pepper looked at him. "This isn't me anymore. You didn't need to know about it."

"Pep, you shouldn't have to hide anything from me, ever." Tony said and walked closer, to the fact he was now face to face with her. He placed his hand under her chin and brought it up slowly so she could look up into his eyes. "Hearing this has made me fall in love with you all over again. This is the person I want to know. I don't want you to stop. I want to know more about her." Tony said.

Pepper couldn't believe what she was hearing coming out of Tony's mouth.

"Really?" She could hardly speak as she choked on tears.

Tony didn't reply, but he pulled her in for kiss that made her heart melt. She returned the kiss and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Tony carried her into the bedroom and carefully placed her on the bed, he figured that this was probably hurting her, so he stopped.

"Don't stop," Pepper pleaded. Tony looked at her as she started kissing his neck.

"Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you." He said. But he was easily aroused with what she was doing.

"I'm okay," Pepper whispered into his ear. "I'll be alright. I've got you."

Tony then carefully unbuttoned the shirt Pepper was wearing and slipped it off her. Pepper did the same with Tony's shirt and slipped off his jeans.

It was slow, but it was intimate and perfect. Making love wasn't something they always did and even in this circumstance it wasn't the most comfortable, but it made Pepper feel good. She hadn't felt that good in a long time.

Pepper then lay next to Tony, her arm wrapped around his chest, his arm around her. She traced around the arc reactor in his chest. She looked up at him.

"I don't want to move, but I have to change this stupid bandage over my scar." Pepper told him. She sighed as Tony got up and went into the bathroom. Covering herself up with the sheets, Pepper looked to see what Tony was doing.

Coming back out, Tony was holding the ointment and a bandage in his hand.

"Here, let me help you." He said. Pepper laughed as he lay her back down on the bed. Tony carefully peeled off the old bandage, throwing it to the side and looked at her scar. "So that's what's left?"

Pepper looked at him, she knew that he hadn't seen the scar.

"Yeah, that's the damage. But it's still healing, so it shouldn't look too bad in a few weeks." She explained to him. Tony took some of the ointment and gently applied it to her skin. Pepper took in a sharp breath as he applied the ointment. Tony stopped and looked at her.

"I'm not hurting you am I?" He asked, he really didn't want to hurt her anymore then she already was.

Pepper shook her head. "No, it's still a little tender. That's all." She smiled in reassurance. Tony nodded and quickly finished putting on the bandage.

"There, all done." He said and pulled her back up. Pepper pulled her knees up to her chest and looked at Tony. She was silent. "What's wrong?" Tony looked at her.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just thinking." Pepper said.

Tony looked at her, his gaze was questioning. "Thinking, about what?"

"About us," Pepper smiled and looked up at him. "I love you, Tony Stark."

Tony pulled her in and kissed her, "I love you too, Virginia Potts. I really do." This was how he wanted to spend his life, not in the circumstance that Pepper was injured, but he could never live without her.

Although it was late in the afternoon, both were beat. Tony pulled Pepper back down onto the bed and held onto her. Closing his eyes, he could hear Pepper humming a song.

"Tony," Pepper called his name. He turned his head and opened his eyes. "Thank you, for everything. I don't know how I would be able to deal with things without you."

"You don't have to thank me, Pep." Tony said and took her hand. "You've always been there for me, and now it's my turn to be there for you."

Pepper kissed his shoulder and closed her eyes. She felt at peace.

* * *

Tony opened his eyes the next morning and found that Pepper wasn't sleeping next to him. Sitting up, Tony was a little worried. He got out of bed, pulled on his sweatpants and walked out of his room. As he was walking down the hall, he could hear music coming from the kitchen.

_ Come out Virginia, don't let it wait. You Catholic girls start much to late. Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate. I might as well be the one… _

Standing in the doorway, Tony watched Pepper as she was dancing and singing around the kitchen while she was making breakfast. Pepper was wearing his MIT sweatshirt and and some slippers. He noticed that Pepper looked so much better now than she had since they came home. She was starting to look like herself again, but now even better.

"What are you doing so early this morning?" Tony spoke up. Pepper jumped, nearly dropping the spoon she was holding. She turned down the radio and looked over at Tony.

"That's not funny, Tony. I don't like when you sneak up on me like that." Pepper smiled and turned back to her cooking. "I couldn't sleep anymore, so I decided to come make breakfast for us."

Tony went towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He took in her scent.

"Well, I like what you were just doing out here." Tony told her. "That song really suits you."

Pepper turned and smiled at him. "It's catchy, isn't it?" She said and turned the radio back up. She danced around and hummed to the catchy tune. Pepper was happy and she wasn't afraid to show it. She did a little turn and ended up face to face with Tony, her eyes catching his. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss that made her heart melt.

"I never want to hurt you again," Tony told her. "This is how I want things to stay. If you're happy, I'm happy." Pepper looked at him, she could feel tears form in her eyes.

"I'm really happy and I want it to stay this way." She told him. And it was true. Tony Stark did have a heart and it was all hers.

_**~ Fin.**_


End file.
